A 77-year-old Florida man has found a clever, non-destructive way to protest the license plate readers popping up on his street, and honestly, it’s the kind of ingenuity we can appreciate. Carl Gunn, a St. Petersburg resident, didn’t reach for spray paint or a power drill like so many others have lately. Instead, he grabbed a 12-foot pool skimmer pole, taped a sign to the end reading “DOWN WITH FLOCK CAMERAS,” and set up a lawn chair right next to one of the cameras in his neighborhood.
Video of Gunn’s one-man protest shows him lounging comfortably, sign in one hand and an umbrella in the other, patiently blocking the camera’s view for hours at a time. It’s a simple setup, but there’s something almost poetic about using a pool accessory to fight back against a surveillance network. No property damage, no vandalism charges to worry about, just a guy and his very long pole standing between a camera and the cars driving by.
Gunn told a local Tampa Bay paper that his issue comes down to consent and profit. He pointed out that Flock Safety, the company behind these automatic license plate readers, is collecting data on everyday drivers without permission and turning a profit doing it. His logic is pretty simple: if they’re going to use the airspace above public roads to make money, he’d like his cut too. He’s staged at least two of these protests so far at different camera locations around town…