Surveillance network: FedEx, retailers said to be sharing AI camera feeds with cops
https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/companies/surveillance-network-fedex-retailers-said-to-be-sharing-ai-camera-feeds-with-cops/ar-BB1pbUWA
Archive copy: https://archive.ph/5zOc3
"FedEx (NYSE:FDX) is sharing its surveillance feeds with local law enforcement as part of an AI car surveillance network, Forbes has reported, with two police departments sharing their camera feeds to the shipping giant's own police force.
The company has reportedly installed AI-powered cameras on its trucks made by Flock Safety to monitor its facilities. Shelby County Sheriff’s Office in Tennessee and Pittsboro Police Department in Indiana have also granted the FedEx Air Carrier Police Department access to their Flock license plate readers.
The report has sparked concerns over the mass surveillance network. "It raises questions about why a private company... would have privileged access to data that normally is only available to law enforcement,"said Jay Stanley, senior policy analyst, American Civil Liberties Union.
While FedEx spokesperson Phalisha Jackson said the company does not discuss its security procedures publicly, it takes its staff's safety "very seriously."
Flock has similar arrangements with other multi-billion dollar companies, including Simon Property Group (SPG) and Lowe's (LOW), which share mall feeds with local cops to combat shoplifting.
Another major Flock customer is Ulta Beauty (ULTA), which shares images of vehicles and gunshot detection alerts with police to prevent crimes against its staff.
Kaiser Permanente, the largest health insurer in the U.S., has also shared data from Flock's license plate readers with the Northern California Regional Intelligence Center, , according to the report.
Flock, valued at over $4B in an Andreessen Horowitz-led fundraising round in 2023, previously ran into issues with law enforcement over installing AI-powered license plate readers without approval."
Flock Safety, who makes the tag readers and shot sensors, is based in Atlanta, GA.
We buy a roll of hay every other week not so much because the cows eat it all but because King Peter likes a nice fluffy bed that doubles as a look-out station. Of course he and Tod end up urinating and defecating on the hay which makes it less than ideal for the cows. We are working on putting up yet more fencing so the boys don’t have access to the cow hay but for now Pete is living large.
We have several refrigerators and freezers (as do most farmers), and for a while, the goat milk and eggs were in the same one. Recently however, I have turned the temperature down several degrees so it is barely above freezing so as to rapidly chill the milk and keep it very cold in order to extend its shelf life. However, as maintaining our fridge temperature is not a perfect science, we have had several moments of discovering frozen food and liquids in the fridge - never the milk - but for instance, celery juice. Then we discovered a frozen egg. I have since separated the eggs into a new refrigerator so they are no longer with the milk. We had fun peeling the frozen egg and examining it! Our dog, Zinnia, was very happy to help taste test. There is no life like the farm dog life! I did do a search and learned that it is safe to eat an egg that has frozen after thawing it, though not recommended if the egg has cracked.
Everyone who has chickens knows the struggle toward maintaining enough egg cartons, always asking friends to save theirs and bring them by. I was just thinking how I’d need some more when I drove by unknown trash on the side of the road. It looked like it might be egg cartons so I pulled over and sure enough - yes! 🙌 It was worth all the stares I got. Has this happened to you? What is something you needed and fortuitously found?
