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I won the Internet! My blog post was shared to Hacker News and was #1 on the page at the same time my karma hit 31337.

Screenshot of my previous post about Flock ignoring my CCPA request at the top of Hacker News, next to my name showing my karma as 31337

Getting the Flock out

I wrote to Flock’s privacy contact to opt out of their domestic spying program:

I am a resident of California. As such, and because you are subject to the CCPA, delete all information about me, my vehicle, and other household members from all of your databases. I do not give you permission to collect or store data about me, my vehicles, or my relatives, in any future situation.

[Me] [My address]

They replied today:

Dear [misspelled name, i.e. not copied and pasted],

Your request cannot be completed at this time.

Dear [misspelling again],

Thank you for submitting your privacy request. At this time, we are unable to process this request for the reasons detailed below.

Flock Safety provides its services to our customers, and our customers are owners and controllers of the data Flock Safety processes on their behalf. Flock Safety processes data as a service provider and processor for our customers and as a result, we are unable to directly fulfill your request. We recommend contacting the organization that engaged Flock Safety’s services to submit your request, as they are responsible for assessing and responding to it.

Here are a few additional points about Flock Safety’s data collection and privacy practices:

  • Customer Contracts: Flock Safety’s processing activity as a service provider and processor is governed by the contract we have with our customers, which captures their instructions and the limitations on how Flock Safety may process their data. Flock Safety’s customers own the data and make all decisions around how such data is used and shared.
  • No Sale of Data: Because Flock Safety’s customers own the data, Flock Safety may only process the data in accordance with our customer’s instructions, as outlined in our contracts with customers. Flock Safety is not permitted to sell, publish, or exchange such data for our own commercial purposes.
  • Information Collected: Where Flock Safety’s customers leverage License Plate Reader (LPR) technology, the LPRs do not process sensitive information like names or addresses. Instead, LPRs only capture images of publicly available and visible vehicle characteristics that are taken in the public view.
  • Purpose: Flock Safety customers use data for security purposes, including managing public safety or responding to safety concerns and reports. Additionally, such data may be used to help solve crimes and provide objective evidence.
  • Retention: By default, Flock Safety’s systems only retain data for 30 days, which means that any data collected on behalf of customers is permanently hard deleted on a rolling 30 day basis. Flock Safety customers are able to adjust this retention period based on their local laws or policies.

For more information about how Flock Safety processes data, please refer to our Privacy Policy and LPR Policy.

Thank you,

Flock Safety Privacy Team

I think that’s legally inaccurate. They’re the entity collecting and processing my personally identifiable information, and my non-lawyer reading of the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) would seem to obligate them to comply with my request. I haven’t decided to engage a lawyer yet, but neither have I ruled it out.

I’m playing Silent Hill F, which is beautiful, well made, and playable for up to 30 minutes per day until I get the heebie jeebies and have to put it down.

In certain forums I frequent, some people developed the habit of commenting on other users that “this sounds like AI wrote it”. Confession: I downvote every one of those. This blog you’re reading at this moment is 100% handwritten. I haven’t used AI to write a single word or edit a single sentence. It’s wholly, completely, my work. Yet, one tool I tested labeled it “about 30% slop”, apparently because I enjoy punctuation and sentences longer than 4 words. I have no patience for that.

Huh, whatever could that be?

A small package wrapped in paper, with a postcard of a southwest-style building sitting on it and covering most of it. The postcard says "Thank you!".

It looks promising.

A small, rectangular package wrapped in paper from Dr Pepper Museum, Waco, Texas

Awww, yeah.

A 5-pack of boxes of Dr Pepper Tic Tacs

macOS Tahoe has one feature that I adore: a setting to remove an app’s icon from the menu bar at the top of the screen. Far too many apps want to put their icon there for no helpful reason other than to remind me that they exist. That led to a proliferation of apps like Bartender (which I use to like before it sold out), Ice, and others that let users control what shows up in the menu bar.

I don’t need those apps anymore and I don’t miss them.

Here’s the 1Password icon in my menu bar. I have never, not once, ever used that icon for anything useful.

Screenshot of a macOS Tahoe menu bar showing the 1Password icon, among others.

In System Settings > Menu Bar, I removed 1Password’s “Allow in the Menu Bar” permission.

Screenshot of the new Menu Bar tab in System Settings, showing 1Password being unchecked.

Ta-da! No more unnecessary icon, and no third-party menu bar manager app required!

Screenshot of the menu bar again, but this time without 1Password.

I wrote a little Python web chat thingy ages ago, Seshat. I haven’t touched it again in over 15 years. Someone asked me for permission to re-use that name on PyPI. I’d refuse under other circumstances — supply chain attack, anyone? — except that I strongly doubt there’s a single user of my package anywhere. The new person wants to rename their legitimate, long-lived project in a completely different niche so there’s no chance of confusing the two, either.

Because of all that, I’m agreeing to it. They’re starting the transfer process and I’ll approve it. If you’re the one person in the world using my abandoned project 15 years on, please consider vendoring my code. In fact, you can flat-out have it. Call it your own. Put it under your own license for all I care.

In short: some time after March 2026, the Seshat name on PyPI will start pointing at something else.

You can tell much about a person by the logos they wear. For example, if someone has a shirt or jacket with the “HH” logo, you know they’re a brand ambassador for Hamburger Helper®️, and are huge fans of beefy, cheese-product flavored pasta meals they eat thrice daily.