People who oppose Flock Safety’s automated license plate readers (ALPRs) and the alleged misuse of the technology by police can now channel their frustration into Grand Theft Auto V. Artist Morry Colman created Grand Theft Automation License Plate Reader, a video game mod that brings Flock surveillance cameras into the fictional world of Los Santos.
The GTA V ALPR mod places 235 Flock cameras throughout a fictionalized version of Los Angeles. Players can destroy or shoot down the cameras and receive a $600 in-game reward for each one. Colman’s project was inspired in part by efforts to tear down Flock Falcon Flex cameras, including a campaign documented by Eyes Off of Cedar Rapids, an Iowa-based civil liberties organization.
An in-game camera records whenever players destroy a surveillance device or drive past one. Players can then turn those encounters into a photo album documenting their interactions with the virtual ALPR network.
In the real world, Flock cameras have also been targeted by alleged vigilantes. Reports describe cameras being covered with spray paint, cut down with a saw, hit by bullets, and even attacked with a fiery projectile. An NPR analysis found that Flock cameras had been vandalized in at least 36 states.
“GTALPR does not endorse any activities permitted within GTA,” Colman said. “GTA is largely about committing fictional crimes, but I think there is a public desire for some kind of cathartic release from these machines.”
Beyond giving players something to destroy, the Flock cameras function as an extension of law enforcement in the game. Driving past one of the 235 cameras while being pursued by police extends the game’s cooldown period. Some parts of the map contain so many cameras that avoiding surveillance can become nearly impossible.
There is also a 5% chance that a camera will trigger a random police response, even when the player has not committed a crime. Colman said the feature was inspired by reports of innocent people being detained at gunpoint because of automated license plate reader errors.
“These cameras and their inaccuracies are creating violent reactions and really dangerous situations,” Colman said.
Flock Safety did not respond to requests for comment on the project.
Grand Theft Auto V has been available for more than a decade and has developed a large, active modding community. WIRED previously covered the game’s mod scene in 2015. The long-awaited sequel, Grand Theft Auto VI, is scheduled for release in November and will be set in Vice City, a fictional version of Miami.
Colman joked that there are no immediate plans to create a Vice City version of the ALPR mod. “We’ll probably wait to see what the people of Vice City and the local government have already installed around the map,” he said.
In the real Los Angeles, the Los Angeles Police Department has temporarily suspended its use of Flock surveillance cameras. The decision followed a recommendation from the LAPD inspector general. Other states are also reconsidering the technology. The governors of Texas and Florida have recently taken steps to limit the use of Flock cameras, while the anti-surveillance group Secure Justice reported 131 Flock contract cancellations in August alone.
Although destroying virtual surveillance cameras can be entertaining, Colman said the deeper goal of GTALPR is to make players experience the “insidiousness and inescapability of surveillance.”
“You can read thousands of articles about why surveillance is harmful and why Flock cameras are frightening,” Colman said. “Alternatively, you can drive around the Los Santos map and get a sense of how widespread these cameras are.”
Source: www.wired.com