GTA 5 mod adds herd surveillance cameras so players can blow them up – vrenture.com/

Flock Automated License Plate Reading Cameras are rapidly popping up across the United States. In some regions they are also declining quite quickly.

Widespread opposition to Flock surveillance cameras has highlighted their inaccuracies and potential for government abuse. The movement to “repopulate” cities includes everything from the termination of municipal contracts to covering cells with trash bags and various forms of physical vandalism.

Now, if you’re traveling through the fictional city of Los Santos (modeled after Los Angeles) in the new Grand Theft Auto 5 mod, you can be tracked by any of Flock’s 235 cameras. But you can also get $600 for each enemy you shoot down.

The mod (individual addition to the game) is called Grand Theft Automated License Plate Reader. Morrie Coleman, the mod’s creator, said Flock’s in-game cameras are based on “custom-built” 3D models that subject players to “seemingly unavoidable surveillance.”

These virtual cameras take pictures of you and track your movements, much like Big Brother. If you commit a crime in the game – for example, speeding or hitting pedestrians – the cameras will report you to the police. Sometimes they will even file “false reports” on you, just like real cameras sometimes do. Players can also save images captured by the cameras to use in social media posts or as wallpaper.

And because this is Grand Theft Auto, you’re also allowed to fight back against the surveillance state, with access to weapons (like rocket launchers) that will help you destroy the cameras. Once you’ve performed an effective de-flocking, you can claim the mutilated remains for a $600 in-game reward (the estimated value of the camera’s internal components is based on a teardown by Eyes Off Cedar Rapids). There’s also a built-in timer to keep track of how quickly you unlock, allowing you to beat your PB.

Virtual protest

GTA 5 is full of social commentary, from the dangers of consumerism to subtle criticism of the extreme gamer behavior of characters like Trevor and Jimmy. The new Grand Theft Automated Number Plate Reader mod capitalizes on the widespread hatred and mistrust of the massive Flock surveillance network that graces US roads.

For some, this is probably a fun (and less punitive) way to take advantage of pent-up vigilance. But according to Coleman, it also makes the game more difficult. “Not only does police surveillance become nearly impossible to evade, but reflecting Flock’s own history of inaccurate reporting, every time the player walks through the camera’s field of view, the mod creates a 1 in 20 chance that ALPR will cause a police chase for no reason,” the mod’s download page states.

In many ways, the new mod is a reality check on privacy in the real world. If the 235 cameras following you around in GTA seem like an oppressive nightmare in a claustrophobic game world, just remember that there are 10 times as many in real-life Los Angeles County.

Joe is a freelance journalist. It all started with a long-time hobby of building his own computers, which he first took up as a teenager. It has turned into a lifelong enjoyment of posting words on the internet about this topic. He has written for CNET, PCMag, Mashable and SlashGear as a freelance writer and served as a senior editor at Android Authority for 10 years. When he’s not writing about technology and science, he’s learning the ins and outs of DIY home repairs, gaming, playing bass, and posting help on the PC building and gaming subreddits. He is convinced that orange juice must have pulp.

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