A TikTok creator going by @calculator_playing just turned a license plate camera into the internet’s favorite punching bag. The setup: a Flock camera duct-taped to a chair, six 4K monitors, and a relentless stream of plates flashing 96 images at 240 times per second. That’s 23,040 plates per second, which the creator labeled“digital waterboarding.”The video has pulled in over 3 million views, with commenters crowning it“lawful evil.”
The stunt lands in the middle of a very real fight. Flock Safety makes plate-reading cameras used by law enforcement in 49 states, with roughly 120,000 deployed nationwide. Privacy advocates have pushed back hard, and it’s working: Fort Collins, Eugene, and Madison have halted new installations. A federal judge also ruled that a Tulsa County deputy abused his post by running a woman named Melisa Kyle through Flock’s database.
Worth noting: the camera in the video likely wasn’t connected to Flock’s network, so this is more protest art than actual breach. Still, the response shows how loud the surveillance debate has gotten, and how fast one person with a camera can push it into everyone’s feed.
Would you be okay with a license plate camera on your street if it helped solve a crime in your neighborhood? Sound off in the comments.
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Local Lawton
Local Lawton is a contributor to LocalBeat, covering local news and community stories.