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Comment by nancyminusone

2 days ago

My money would be on Axon. They at least have a claim to the "hold police accountable" angle with bodycams and less-lethal weapons. Compared with Flock's "we'll watch you and what're you gonna do about it"

Axon's had ALPRs long before Flock existed, and the data management story is completely different. Flock was essentially a data warehouse with dark patterns around sharing settings that led to a lot of places defaulting open. Axon started out in bodycams and other direct-investigative tools, and their data management is very much focused on "the agency keeps its data" -- by default, data sharing requests have to be individually approved. You can't just type a plate number in and get hits nationwide.

The question is: will Axon enshittify their mature products in order to pursue that panopticon money?

  • >The question is: will Axon enshittify their mature products in order to pursue that panopticon money?

    It would be an historic first if they didn't