You Can Now Destroy Flock Cameras for Cash in GTA V

7:12 PM ETDeveloping

Technology Desk

In Short: In response to real-world concerns over surveillance, Rockstar Games has added a mod in Grand Theft Auto V that allows players to destroy Flock cameras, mirroring real-life efforts to dismantle similar systems.

Apple had planned to introduce high-end in-ear AirPods with built-in cameras for analyzing the surrounding environment, but the launch has been pushed to next year.

An analysis found that Flock cameras have been vandalized in at least 36 states, with governors in Texas and Florida taking steps to curtail their use, and 131 Flock contract terminations in August alone, according to Secure Justice.

In Grand Theft Auto V, players can now smash and shoot down 235 Flock cameras, earning $600 for each one destroyed, inspired by real-life vandalism efforts and inspired by the Iowa-based civil liberties group Eyes Off of Cedar Rapids.

The mod not only allows players to destroy the cameras but also logs their interactions, providing a photo album of their actions. In real life, vigilantes have used spray-paint, saws, bullets, and even flaming projectiles to wreck Flock cameras in their communities.

But I think there is a public appetite for some kind of cathartic release against these machines,' said a source, noting that the in-game cameras also operate as an extension of the police in-game, making the game impossible to play in some areas due to their density and random police responses.

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People are not happy about Flock Safety’s automated license plate readers and the cops that allegedly misuse them.
The mod installs 235 Flock cameras around the fictional Los Santos, a riff on the real-life city of Los Angeles.
Passing by one of the 235 cameras while being chased by the cops prolongs the game’s cooldown period.
There’s also a 5 percent chance that the cameras will trigger a random police response even if the player isn’t doing anything wrong, which Kolman says was inspired by news reports about innocent people being held at gunpoint because of ALPR errors.
Whether any of us are ready or not, though, it seems the cameras are coming.
Cameras don’t need to be put in absolutely every product.
I have too many concerns about a company — any company — putting cameras anywhere, especially in devices like earbuds that are now so ubiquitous in our daily lives.

Sources

WIRED link