(The Hill) — A group of hackers ripped down a Flock camera and stole its data, finding that the cameras’ software can generate dozens of images from a single passing vehicle to develop its signature.
The group, called stegan0gram, shared findings with Wired and 404 Media, who ran a joint investigation. The outlets found that in a 21-day period the camera photographed roughly 50,200 vehicles and generated about 1.6 million images.
Huntsville forum addresses flock cameras, privacy concerns
Flock has a system of license plate readers, video cameras and audio detection devices incorporated into its AI database. That database logs license plate numbers, as well as car features like make, model, color and bumper stickers. Local jurisdictions can share data with other law enforcement agencies, creating a major network that law enforcement can use in crime solving.
The outlets stated that the camera generally captures around 28 images from a single encounter with a vehicle, though some can produce more than 100, and sends photos and other data to Flock through a cellular network. They noted that the camera does not identify vehicles or read plates, stating that this analysis appears to happen on Flock’s servers…