this post was submitted on 20 May 2026
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[–] CmdrShepard49@sh.itjust.works 91 points 1 week ago (3 children)

Can't read the whole article but this guy is clearly a moron. People can choose to not carry a phone with them but nobody chooses warrantless surveillance being conducted and paid for directly by the government

[–] BonsaiBoo@lemmy.world 36 points 1 week ago

Well at least the government and big tech companies have a perfect record of keeping sensitive private data safe! /S

He also recognizes the need for more privacy protections for cell phone and internet users but is clearly only interested in having a little tantrum and not in actually helping anyone.

[–] SaltySalamander@fedia.io 2 points 1 week ago

Can't read the whole article

https://archive.is/WGZoe

[–] SouthFresh@lemmy.world 88 points 1 week ago (1 children)

Someone's upset they're not getting their kickback.

[–] TipRing@lemmy.world 50 points 1 week ago

Flock should have splurged and bought two more councilmembers.

[–] chicken@lemmy.dbzer0.com 61 points 1 week ago (1 children)

In an earlier February city council meeting, Flowers said, “I believe personally that guilty people act defensively. If you don’t have anything to hide, then it shouldn’t be a problem. I also believe when you are in a public space, your privacy kind of goes out the window because you are in essence in a public place.”

This guy really has a thing for spying on everyone in his town against their wishes, I wonder what he's hiding

[–] Enkrod@feddit.org 3 points 1 week ago

Someone needs to follow people like that around with a camera for weeks. And when they inevitably crack, just ask if they have anything to hide and state that in a public place all privacy goes out the window.

[–] Boppel@feddit.org 59 points 1 week ago (1 children)

toddler minded. that embarassing for an adult person.

It seems to be a requirement for certain governmental bodies these days.

[–] Treczoks@lemmy.world 43 points 1 week ago (1 children)

It would be interesting to learn how big his kickback from Flock is.

[–] SynAcker@lemmy.dbzer0.com 27 points 1 week ago (1 children)

It's probably something comically small. Like $5k. Most politicians are cheaper than we think.

[–] eestileib@lemmy.blahaj.zone 2 points 1 week ago

I am continually shocked at how cheaply people hold their honor

[–] Ensign_Crab@lemmy.world 32 points 1 week ago

Awww. Someone's kickback is contingent on a successful installation of spy cameras.

[–] DataCrime@lemmy.dbzer0.com 26 points 1 week ago (1 children)

What a fucking candyass. You have to wonder if the fuckwhit was getting kickbacks or something… I just can’t imagine any other reason for that kind of behavior.

[–] UltraBlack@lemmy.world 5 points 1 week ago (1 children)

Learned a new fancy word today thank you?

[–] DataCrime@lemmy.dbzer0.com 2 points 1 week ago (2 children)

Here to help ;-) Which one was it?

[–] OneWomanCreamTeam@sh.itjust.works 11 points 1 week ago (1 children)
[–] DataCrime@lemmy.dbzer0.com 1 points 1 week ago

LOL …whole sentence, basically :-)

[–] UltraBlack@lemmy.world 2 points 1 week ago (1 children)

Candyass. What a powerful word... I shall make good use of it

[–] DarrinBrunner@lemmy.world 5 points 1 week ago

It's an older insult, but it checks out. A "classic", if you will.

[–] dangling_cat@piefed.blahaj.zone 24 points 1 week ago

Conspiracy: flock is a blackmail machine. This council member is doing it out of fear

[–] FlyingCircus@lemmy.world 21 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago) (1 children)

If I was a member of a law enforcement agency who actually cared about the public good, I would run a sting operation on this guy, because Polymarket is running the chances on him accepting future bribes at 100%.

[–] flying_sheep@lemmy.ml 5 points 1 week ago (1 children)

Gotta invent that agency first

[–] FlyingCircus@lemmy.world 3 points 1 week ago

I was writing that for the FBI agents that lurk around here inventorying the commies, hoping that if they have no shame, at least they would be careerist enough to go after an easy win.

[–] diabetic_porcupine@lemmy.world 17 points 1 week ago (1 children)

Well why don’t we just ban oxygen then?!?!

[–] WorldsDumbestMan@lemmy.today 4 points 1 week ago

But only for people with 100 million or more dollars net worth.

[–] dukeofdummies@lemmy.world 16 points 1 week ago

And yet something tells me that if someone followed him around with a camera crew 24/7 he would be deeply concerned.

If anything a faceless invisible entity following you should be even more horrifying.

[–] HikingVet@lemmy.ca 9 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago) (1 children)

Can't read the entire article unless you have an account, soooo....

[–] AlphaOmega@lemmy.world 17 points 1 week ago (1 children)

Try Reading Mode, it gives you this:

After months of discussion and outrage from residents, the city council of the tiny town of Bandera, Texas voted 3-2 to immediately end its contract with the surveillance company Flock. In the aftermath of the vote, one of the dissenting council members crashed out and said he would be introducing measures to ban cell phones, the internet, cameras, and nearly all technology in the town of roughly 900 people.

Bandera had a state grant to install eight Flock Safety AI license plate reader cameras in the tiny town. The technology proved to be incredibly controversial, with residents repeatedly turning out to city council meetings to say that they did not want government surveillance in the town; the poles that the cameras were installed on were repeatedly destroyed by vandals in protest, leading the town to have to replace them at their own expense. Last week, the town formally decided to abandon its contract with Flock entirely.

After the vote, Councilmember Jeff Flowers, a staunch Flock supporter, said that if people in the town wanted privacy then the city council should basically ban all technology, essentially calling people who did not want government surveillance hypocrites. Flowers said he would propose a series of new regulations at an upcoming city council meeting, which he is calling the “Bandera Declaration of Digital Independence.” In a letter posted by the local newspaper, the Bandera Bulletin, Flowers said that in the name of preserving privacy he would suggest the city go back to the days of 1880.

💡

Do you know anything else about Flock? I would love to hear from you. Using a non-work device, you can message me securely on Signal at jason.404. Otherwise, send me an email at jason@404media.co.

“For months, I have listened to the outcry regarding License Plate Recognition (LPR) technology. I have seen the eyerolls, and I’ve even been met with ‘Nazi rhetoric,’ the dangerous claim that believing in accountability and community safety is somehow equivalent to totalitarianism,” Flowers wrote. “Comparing a neighbor’s desire for a safe street to a dark chapter of history is a classic case of comparing apples to oranges; it is a distraction used to avoid the reality of the threats our town faces today.”

Flowers said that at the next city council meeting he will propose “a total ban on all cellular and GPS-capable devices for all operations within city limits. If we are to be truly ‘private,’ we must leave our smartphones at the city line.” He will also propose “a total ban on outward facing cameras,” and “a total termination of all internet services and electronic record-keeping. We are going back to 1880, paper ledgers and cash only.”

This post is for paid members only

[–] FUCKING_CUNO@lemmy.dbzer0.com 9 points 1 week ago

This post is for paid members only

Heh

[–] Randelung@lemmy.world 9 points 1 week ago

Get the fucking money out of fucking politics. Solves around 90% of all conflict of interest issues.

[–] Bitflip@lemmy.ml 8 points 1 week ago

Gotta wonder with a town that small, how many restraining orders it would take to make it illegal for Flowers to enter city limits.

[–] AnUnusualRelic@lemmy.world 8 points 1 week ago

I, for one, am glad that some politicians finally realise the privacy problems that come with GPS and cellular devices!

What?

[–] stoly@lemmy.world 5 points 1 week ago (2 children)

This is why I stay the hell away from small or rural areas. They are run by the most insane people.

[–] quick_snail@feddit.nl 6 points 1 week ago (1 children)

You realize that this town just voted to ban Flock, right?

That makes it more sane than almost all towns in yhr country

[–] stoly@lemmy.world -5 points 1 week ago

Not really. This is normal for libertarians. It all comes down to then being allowed to do whatever they want without interference. Flock = interference.

[–] DarrinBrunner@lemmy.world 2 points 1 week ago

And, it's never in a good way. Like, they're never insanely good people.

[–] mechoman444@lemmy.world 4 points 1 week ago

Looks like all that lobbying has gone to waste.

Bwaaaahhhhhhh...