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Texas town councilor proposes tech ban after AI camera vote

A town council member in Bandera, Texas, has proposed a complete ban on cellular and GPS devices following the town's vote to discontinue using Flock AI's license plate readers. The council member, Jeff Flowers, suggested reverting to an 1880s-era lifestyle to uphold privacy principles after residents expressed concerns about AI-powered surveillance. This move comes as Bandera joins over 50 other jurisdictions nationwide that have rejected Flock's technology due to privacy and trust issues, with some residents also resorting to vandalism of the cameras. AI

IMPACT Highlights growing public distrust in AI surveillance, potentially influencing local policy decisions on technology adoption nationwide.

RANK_REASON A local government's proposed ban on technology due to AI surveillance concerns represents a significant policy reaction. [lever_c_demoted from significant: ic=2 ai=0.4]

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Texas town councilor proposes tech ban after AI camera vote

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A local government's proposed ban on technology due to AI surveillance concerns represents a significant policy reaction. [lever_c_demoted from significant: ic=2 ai=0.4]
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COVERAGE [3]

  1. 404 Media TIER_1 English(EN) · Jason Koebler ·

    After Town Bans Flock, Councilmember Crashes Out, Proposes Internet and Phone Ban

    A Texas councilmember will propose “a total ban on all cellular and GPS-capable devices for all operations within city limits" and"a total termination of all internet services."

  2. Tom's Hardware TIER_1 English(EN) · Jowi Morales ·

    Angry tiny Texas town council member proposes total ban on cellular and GPS devices in protest over AI dispute — says 'Let’s take Bandera back to 1880' after town votes to dump AI-powered license plate reader

    A town councilor proposes banning all technology in a small Texas town after they lose vote on keeping Flock AI cameras running in the area.

  3. Mastodon — fosstodon.org TIER_1 English(EN) · [email protected] ·

    Angry tiny Texas town council member proposes total ban on cellular and GPS devices in protest over AI dispute — says 'Let’s take Bandera back to 1880' after to

    Angry tiny Texas town council member proposes total ban on cellular and GPS devices in protest over AI dispute — says 'Let’s take Bandera back to 1880' after town votes to dump AI-power… A town councilor proposes banning all technology in a small Texas town after they lose vote o…