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Canadian YouTuber builds 'Flock-like' camera to exclusively track police vehicles, gets a visit from police — officers visit his home to express privacy concerns Officers reportedly say anti-surveillance control policies may lead to details of active investigations reaching criminals. A YouTuber has received an unexpected visit from the police over an automatic license plate recognition (ALPR) camera he built to specifically track police cars, using the same technology law enforcement has infamously used to track ordinary citizens. In a video posted to his channel on October 7, Anthony Sistilli says two police officers showed up at his doorstep on September 20th to ask questions about the device, asking what his intentions were with the project. Sistilli, a Canadian software engineer and YouTuber, pointed out the irony of the officers' concerns, explaining that they mirror the privacy concerns of ordinary citizens who are growing increasingly weary of the recent spike in blanket surveillance brought about by a mass installation of ALPR cameras. Flock Safety, a U.S. public safety technology company, recently scaled its centralized national surveillance network to over 120,000 cameras operating across 49 states, according to the company, capturing billions of vehicle scans every month. The development sparked widespread public backlash, with critics arguing that Flock has quietly built a massive government surveillance dragnet without a public vote or federal oversight, since any police department on the network can search across state lines. Security researchers later discovered the network included 335,701 Flock cameras and created a “Flock Surveillance Map,” exposing their locations. Similar ALPR camera surveillance networks exist in Canada, where Sistilli resides, prompting him to build his own device, but this time, encoded to exclusively track police cars. He detailed the build in several TikTok videos, describing it as “a personal Flock surveillance camera to Flock the Flockers.” He then posted a video of himself using the device in real life. The video brought Peel Regional Police, the local law enforcement serving Sistilli’s city, Brampton, Ontario, to his doorstep two weeks later. “One of them [the officers] took the time to specifically mention how scary it would be for them, because people would be able to find out where they lived, when they got on their shift and what they were doing throughout the day, and that that type of powerful information could put them personally at risk for any bad apples that might want to track them down,” Sistilli narrated. He went on to point out that these were the exact concerns ordinary citizens had about constant surveillance, suggesting there should be more policies and systems around such networks. The officers reportedly responded that there was probably no effective way to implement this without giving away details of active investigations to criminals. After several investigative reports exposed incidents where officers misused Flock’s database, with instances of stalking of exes and their acquaintances, public backlash snowballed into physical resistance that has seen residents covering or destroying the cameras. Several municipalities, including major hubs like Los Angeles and Fullerton, have now suspended or outright canceled their Flock contracts due to constituent privacy concerns. Flock and its proponents insist the network has helped lower crime, a claim critics say misreads the data. Sistilli’s video also details aggressive, arguably deceptive marketing tactics Flock uses to convince municipalities to accept cameras. Another issue is centered around the collection and handling of the data. The company says its cameras are protected by on-device encryption and only briefly store images before they are forwarded to its servers. However, hackers reportedly extracted over 27,000 clips and 1.6 million images, captured in a span of 21 days, from a stolen Flock camera. Get Tom's Hardware's best news and in-depth reviews, straight to your inbox. Follow Tom's Hardware on Google News, or add us as a preferred source, to get our latest news, analysis, & reviews in your feeds. Etiido Uko is a news contributor for Tom's Hardware covering the latest updates in big tech and the PC industry. He is a mechanical engineer and senior technical writer with over nine years of experience in documentation and reporting. He is deeply passionate about all things engineering and technology, and is an expert in gadgets, manufacturing, robotics, automotive, and aerospace. - palladin9479 This needs to be a product purchasable on amazon that anyone can install on their own property. Setup a consumer database that tracks police vehicles using ALPRs and watch what happens next.Reply - USAFRet palladin9479 said:This needs to be a product purchasable on amazon that anyone can install on their own property. Setup a consume database that tracks police vehicles using ALPRs and watch what happens next.Good quality cameras are already available. Reolink, etc. All we need is the software and database. Reply - hwertz Boo-hoo, Peel Regional Police want no privacy for everyone else but want it for themselves. Anthony Sistilli's setup is ingenous and I hope others follow suit, remove them if and only if the Flock and similar ALPR cameras go away.Reply - palladin9479 USAFRet said:Good quality cameras are already available. Reolink, etc. All we need is the software and database.Yep, I think that is what this guy made. Reply - PEnns The irony and the reaction of the police is truly breathtaking! One of the comments on the Youtube video is this one that nails it!! "If you're not guilty of anything, you have nothing to hide, isn't that right, officer?" Another good comment: "It always comes down to 'Officer Safety', like they're some higher class of citizen over anyone else and their existence is paramount." Reply - avatar42 Funny that Google Maps already tells you if there are cops on your route. It shows how easy it would be to start a service where people upload their security camera notifications into a searchable DB like Flock's. Many of us already do this locally with free AIs. All the Flock uproar has shown the general public that the tech is not only here but cheap. HOAs were Flock's original market. Easy to see someone else wanting this market. A lot of the Flock lease cost goes to cellular data. An even cheaper alternative that uses cameras already in the neighborhood will be even more popular. The same goes for businesses, which can post when they see something being stolen to alert other businesses on the service. I'm kind of surprised alarm companies like Vivint and ADT aren't already offering this. It would be great for getting whole neighborhoods to move to their service. I'd also add that it would be great for monitoring whether police or security guard patrols are happening or responding in the neighborhood.Reply - USAFRet avatar42 said:It shows how easy it would be to start a service where people upload their security camera notifications into a searchable DB like Flock's.https://deflock.org/ Reply - theSquee The cops are just another organized armed gang. At this point I think I'd rather have cartels. They only exist to hurt you, they never ever help. I hope this makes them feel very unsafe. Maybe losers would stop joining them.Reply - expired56k Except this isn't a valid comparison. Ordinary citizens could care less to track the policy or cause them any harm, that's a tool for the criminals under the guise of equal rights. This analogy basically equates police to criminals. One would have to be a criminal or an idiot to really think this is good. If the police are this bad in the area, then it would be more appropriate to go via city governor or some such to address the issues. This isn't the way. Just my personal opinion on the matter, not an argument.Reply
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