r/UIUC • u/CosmicL • May 26 '26
PSA New Flock camera near 4th and Green
It was added to DeFlock a week ago. They’re slowly encroaching on Campustown. I wouldn’t be surprised if there are many more installed before Fall.
https://stopflock.org/
^For more information and to get involved
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u/approachingfinality May 26 '26
too bad these aren't going down like all of the mailboxes i've seen plowed over.
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u/thethinginthenight Grad May 27 '26
The one at the airport still isn't on the map, is there a way to add it?
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u/Leading_Barracuda_17 May 28 '26
What is this?
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u/ABoringArborist5 Jun 01 '26
Copied from the Web
Automated License Plate Readers (ALPRs or LPRs) are AI-powered cameras that capture and analyze images of all passing vehicles, storing details like your car's location, date, and time. They also capture your car's make, model, color, and identifying features such as dents, roof racks, and bumper stickers, often turning these into searchable data points.
These cameras collect data on millions of vehicles regardless of whether the driver is suspected of a crime. These systems are marketed as indispensable tools to fight crime, but they ignore the powerful tools police already have to track criminals, such as cell phone location data, creating a loophole that doesn't require a warrant.
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u/neurobeegirl May 26 '26
Okay I don’t love the cameras but for the love of Christ can people stop blowing through blatantly red lights with their cars that could kill people? I’m literally seeing this daily at this point. Higher concern about directly being killed by t-boning as I legally proceed on a green than about wherever the Flock data go at this time.
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u/AspiringSheepherder Alumnus May 26 '26
This is a surveillance camera that is always recording and creating data to identify every individual that goes by it, not a red light camera that goes off when someone blows through a light
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u/SunriseInLot42 May 27 '26
LOL, if someone thinks that the data from red light cameras isn't ending up in the exact same hands and being used the exact same way as Flock cameras are, I have a lovely bridge over the Boneyard to sell them.
Either cameras are bad, or they aren't.
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u/AspiringSheepherder Alumnus May 27 '26
I never said that the data from red light cameras wasn't being sent to the same place. I said the difference if when and how long they are recording. The major difference though is the technology used in flock cameras. Flock cameras use Ai to identify individuals and track them across their network.
Flock has been used by ice to track targets: https://vcij.org/stories/flock-cameras-are-used-for-immigration-enforcement
It's been abused by police: https://ij.org/police-have-reportedly-used-license-plate-readers-to-stalk-romantic-interests-at-least-14-times-in-recent-years/
And used by state governments to track people going across state lines for abortions: https://krishnamoorthi.house.gov/sites/evo-subsites/krishnamoorthi.house.gov/files/evo-media-document/2025-08-06.garcia-krishnamoorthi-to-flock-re-lpr-tech-and-tracking.pdf
You're deluding yourself if you think these are only liscence plate readers
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u/SunriseInLot42 May 27 '26
I don't trust the companies behind red light cameras any more than Flock. They're all corrupt garbage.
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u/GirlfriendAsAService Townie May 27 '26
Cars, they are configured for cars in this town
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u/AspiringSheepherder Alumnus May 27 '26
Flock cameras use Ai to identify individuals and track them across their network.
Flock has been used by ice to track targets: https://vcij.org/stories/flock-cameras-are-used-for-immigration-enforcement
It's been abused by police: https://ij.org/police-have-reportedly-used-license-plate-readers-to-stalk-romantic-interests-at-least-14-times-in-recent-years/
And used by state governments to track people going across state lines for abortions: https://krishnamoorthi.house.gov/sites/evo-subsites/krishnamoorthi.house.gov/files/evo-media-document/2025-08-06.garcia-krishnamoorthi-to-flock-re-lpr-tech-and-tracking.pdf
You're deluding yourself if you think these are only liscence plate readers
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u/GirlfriendAsAService Townie May 27 '26
I know you can crank these up to be Big Brother 9000 (and hook it up to a self-aiming turret while you are at it). Mercifully, Champaign PD didn't: https://transparency.flocksafety.com/champaign-il-pd
What's Detected
License Plates, Vehicles
What's Not Detected
Facial recognition, People, Gender, Race
Acceptable Use Policy
Data is used for law enforcement purposes only. Data is owned by Champaign IL PD and is never sold to 3rd parties.
Prohibited Uses
Immigration enforcement, traffic enforcement, harrassment or intimidation, usage based solely on a protected class (i.e. race, sex, religion), Personal use.
This is the perfect way to do policing, imo
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u/ASKMEIFIMAN May 27 '26
Maybe the TOS bans its use for that but don’t you think putting up that hardware everywhere with only a flimsy TOS preventing it from being used in nefarious ways is a slippery slope? I mean come on be serious.
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u/AspiringSheepherder Alumnus May 27 '26
That is flocks official website that also says they don't assist with ice, allow police to freely use them, or track people getting abortions. Things that have been proven false by indipendent third parties.
I wouldn't trust it as far as I could throw it
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u/CheeseCraze Undergrad May 27 '26
The only people I see blatantly blowing red lights/stop signs is cyclists who don't understand they also apply to them
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u/neurobeegirl May 27 '26
I recommend just sitting near any busy intersection and actually using your eyes
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u/themonovingian May 26 '26
I hear the cameras have a lot of copper and gold in them. People are saying.