A surveillance start-up has installed over 100,000 license plate readers across the U.S. but a grassroots movement upset over privacy concerns is fighting back. https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2026/08/09/world/us-car-license-plate-cameras/?utm_medium=Social&utm_source=mastodon #worldnews #surveillance #us #police #privacy

#Flock Pitched a Plan To Turn #Uber and #Lyft Drivers Into Roaming #Surveillance Vehicles

https://www.404media.co/flock-pitched-a-plan-to-turn-uber-and-lyft-drivers-into-roaming-surveillance-vehicles/

#privacy #GigWork #ALPR

🔴 A defense contractor is now selling technology that scans every electronic device in your car as you drive past a camera. It ties everything to your license plate. You cannot opt out.

It is called SignalTrace. Made by Leonardo, an Italian military contractor with existing U.S. Special Operations Command contracts. It sweeps your phone, smartwatch, Bluetooth headphones, your dog's RFID chip, tire pressure sensors, your car's infotainment system. Anything that broadcasts.

It bundles these into what Leonardo calls your "electronic fingerprint," timestamped and geotagged. Stored in an "Enterprise Operations Center for future queries and analysis."

Those are their words. Not mine.

You did not consent. You cannot opt out. Your devices broadcast by existing. In most places, this is perfectly legal.

If this sounds like something that will be abused: it already has been. Police have used existing license plate reader networks to stalk partners, verify school residency, run background checks, and monitor protests. At least 22 officers charged or resigned for ALPR stalking.

SignalTrace does not read your messages. It does not need to. It knows who you travel with, where you go, and when.

Sources: https://www.techdirt.com/2026/06/24/surveillance-tech-company-is-pitching-an-unholy-alpr-stingray-hybrid-to-law-enforcement/ and https://www.leonardocompany-us.com/lpr/elsag-signaltrace

#surveillance #privacy #ALPR

🕵️ Latest from #Surveillance #Technology Oversight Project (S.T.O.P.) #NYC

“Meta's AI glasses aren't just changing how we use technology—they're changing what privacy looks like in public․

As Fast Company asks: 'Do bystanders meaningfully consent to being recorded?'

The answer shouldn't be an…”

https://bsky.app/profile/stopspyingny.bsky.social/post/3mqk66od4xc2o

🤖 via RSS feed. May not reflect our views.

“Bay Area artists commit to avoiding venues employing surveillance technology—Tune-Yards, Deerhoof, and others are among more than 300 artists who’ve signed a pledge organized by local digital rights activists”

#GoodNews #solidarity #Surveillance #sfba #artists

https://sf.gazetteer.co/bay-area-artists-commit-to-avoiding-venues-employing-surveillance-technology

"When Meta used superstar Kylie Jenner to promote its sleek new line of “spy glasses”, the social media company hoped the devices would reach the same broad acceptance that tablets and smartwatches have found before them.

But those plans have hit a snag in the UK, where venues from elite restaurants to popular pub chains have banned the £359 glasses in order to preserve the privacy of customers and staff.

Celebrated restaurateur Jeremy King, owner of London venues including Simpsons in the Strand, Arlington and The Park, said guests should not wear the recording glasses.

He told the Guardian: “I would never knowingly allow any invasion of guest privacy other than with the eyes we were born with.”"

https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2026/aug/06/restaurants-pubs-and-theatres-ban-metas-spy-glasses-over-privacy-fears

#Meta #Surveillance #Privavy #SmartGlasses #SpyGlasses

Contesting #Surveillance Infrastructure on #IndigenousLands

by #OpheliaRivas, #CaitlinBlanchfield, and #NinaKolowratnik

"The broad slope and rounded crest of O’ks Tak’am Do’ak outline the profile of a woman sitting and facing the west. Her name is O’ks Ta’kam. She is part the O’odham origin story, passed down through oral history. She sits there vigilant, a warrior protecting, and will warn the people when a catastrophic event will occur. When this event comes, she will stand and gather the smallest creatures in her skirt to protect them.

"The mountain forms part of the Tak’Va’Vak range which cuts through #TohonoOodham land, joining peaks like Han’a-mek and Ma’mke-mad. These mountains are known as a place to gather sweet fruits from the chu-chues (organ pipe cactus). They are home to caves, springs, and seasonal water holes. Each year ceremonies and hunts take place all across the Tak’Va’Vak, and trails lead through the mountain passes, connecting the springs at A’al Va’pai (Quitobaqito) to O’odham villages in Sonora, and leading all the way to the salty Ge-Ka-ch’k (Sea of Cortez). The mountains hold deer, mountain rams, javalina. They hold burial places. Medicines grow there. In the evening they are especially beautiful, bathed in crimson.

"The Tak’Va’Vak range also forms one border of the Tohono O’odham Nation. The boundary runs along the ridge line and separates the reservation from the Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument, a United States national park to the west.

"The border with the #NationalMonument is one of three that divide Tohono O’odham Nation from the #UnitedStates; the reservation’s southern border is with #Mexico. It is this border that dominates the others—both in its real effects and in media representations—and with good reason, especially in the last decades, and acutely in the present moment. It separates the Tohono O’odham in Sonora from those in Arizona, dividing the people; and its securitization has brought violence and destruction to O’odham lands on both sides in different ways. Yet these two borders—one between nation states and one between reservation and national park—work together: they are part of the same process of colonialism and dispossession that have been constricting O’odham life for hundreds of years. The construction of the US-Mexico border is intertwined with the expropriation of #IndigenousLand and the subsequent creation of #NativeAmerican reservations as much as it is with United States expansionism and policies of exclusion. More than that, the US-Mexico border, and the many weapons, technologies of surveillance, and #BorderPatrol officers that comprise it, is an extension of the United States’ ongoing, violent, and racialized campaign to contain and assimilate Indigenous peoples—it is a settler colonial border. But as Salt River Pima-Maricopa scholar #FantasiaPainter reminds us, the #borderlands are not yet settled, and they are unsettled: this is because of the refusal of Tohono O’odham and other #IndigenousPeoples to see and accept their lands as not their own."

Read more:
https://urbannext.net/significant-impact-contesting-surveillance/

#SettlerColonialism #SurveillanceState #USPol #CulturalGenocide
#NoBorderWall #TrumpsBorderWall
#ProtectTheSacred #EnvironmentalProtectionAct
#RespectTheTreaties #AbolishICE #DefundDHS #MurderPatrol #BorderPatrol #IndigenousSacredSites
#DepartmentOfHomelandInsecurity

39 cities canceled Flock contracts this year after two counties caught its "nationwide" sharing setting feeding 600,000+ searches to agencies that never agreed to it.

Most hired Axon to run the same cameras. Axon lacks Flock's national network, but has announced plans for the same kind of network.

Swapping vendors doesn't fix it. It changes the logo.

https://www.thebluf.news/p/cities-ditching-flock-for-axon-same-surveillance

#Privacy #Surveillance

Cities Are Ditching #Flock, Immediately Replacing It With #Axon License Plate Readers

https://www.404media.co/cities-are-ditching-flock-immediately-replacing-it-with-axon-license-plate-readers/

#ALPR #privacy #surveillance

Adversarial Clothing Designed to Fool #FacialRecognition Systems

https://www.schneier.com/blog/archives/2026/08/adversarial-clothing-designed-to-fool-facial-recognition-systems.html

#privacy #surveillance #fashion

#DHS Wants Protesters’ #Signal Group Chats

https://www.wired.com/story/dhs-wants-protesters-signal-group-chats/

#privacy #surveillance #activism

Not a conspiracy theory anymore...
#surveillance #privacy
THIS is why they've been doing it all along!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vZfZrOJf2Mc

🕵️ Latest from #Surveillance #Technology Oversight Project (S.T.O.P.) #NYC

“A concert or game shouldn't come with a surveillance file․ New reporting alleges Madison Square Garden maintained records identifying LGBTQ+ public figures in an internal database․ Read more at the link below․
them․us/n…”

https://bsky.app/profile/stopspyingny.bsky.social/post/3mqcgg57v522i

🤖 via RSS feed. May not reflect our views.

Flock posted videos on its YouTube channel highlighting at least four police departments whose officers have faced allegations of misusing the company’s tech.

Alt...

Flock Highlighted Police Departments Using Its Tech. Now 4 Face Allegations of Misuse

🕵️ Latest from #Surveillance #Technology Oversight Project (S.T.O.P.) #NYC

“New York just became the first state to ban smart glasses in every courthouse․ As wearable surveillance becomes more common, protecting privacy in sensitive spaces matters more than ever․ Read more via Engadget: engadge…”

https://bsky.app/profile/stopspyingny.bsky.social/post/3mqcfry2mp22i

🤖 via RSS feed. May not reflect our views.

Home Depot faces 3 privacy lawsuits this year. The biggest: its Flock license-plate cameras feed a nationwide police database, with a policy that doesn't restrict ICE or out-of-state sharing. Two cities already caught Flock secretly turning that sharing back on after they'd disabled it.

https://www.thebluf.news/p/home-depot-flock-alpr-surveillance-lawsuits

#Privacy #Surveillance

‘DO NOT MENTION #ALPR USAGE’: How Cops Are Trying to Hide Their Use of #Flock

https://www.404media.co/do-not-mention-alpr-usage-how-cops-are-trying-to-hide-the-existence-of-flock/

#police #privacy #surveillance

The #SEC Bought #Airline Data to Monitor Flights Worldwide

https://www.404media.co/the-sec-bought-airline-data-to-monitor-flights-worldwide/

#travel #privacy #surveillance

🕵️ Latest from #Surveillance #Technology Oversight Project (S.T.O.P.) #NYC

“A new WIRED investigation raises questions about Madison Square Garden's surveillance and data collection․ As S․T․O․P․ Legal Director Darío Maestro said: 'A company that cannot secure a customer list has no business sca…”

https://bsky.app/profile/stopspyingny.bsky.social/post/3mq7v7fiqik2j

🤖 via RSS feed. May not reflect our views.

What a lovely place.

> A publicly exposed web front reveals new details on a tracking system for foreigners and delivers many insight into the capabilities of security organs to track individuals in real time.

**Sharp Eyes: Mass surveillance of foreigners in China - Part 1** [May 2026]

https://netaskari.substack.com/p/sharp-eyes-how-to-track-a-foreigner

#surveillance #china #encryption

Why a #Flock Worker Quit: ‘They Lied’

Jonathan Paz was initially nervous when he started working at the #surveillance company Flock. It was his first tech job. But he was interested in the company’s mission. Flock’s cameras, which constantly scan the license plate of every vehicle driving past, were for finding missing people. Staff at the company were able to solve real issues.

In his job as a government affairs manager a couple of years ago, Paz represented Flock in public hearings, with the goal of getting a city to purchase Flock #cameras. These sorts of hearings are happening on a near constant basis all across the country, as cities and towns participate in a national conversation about whether they want Flock cameras in their community or not.
#privacy

https://www.404media.co/why-a-flock-worker-quit-they-lied/

‘Own the Narrative’: Leaked #Flock Guide Shows How It Teaches #Cops to Promote Its Tech

404 Media has obtained a coaching guide that Flock #surveillance gives to #police about “how to speak to city councils about public safety technology.” The handbook highlights how Flock and police team up to convince cities to buy and keep its automated license plate reader technology, even when there is widespread public opposition to it, and encourages police to “own the narrative before someone else does” by championing the technology before citizens can oppose it during public comment periods.
#alpr #privacy #flocksafety

https://www.404media.co/own-the-narrative-leaked-flock-guide-shows-how-it-teaches-cops-to-promote-its-tech/

‘DO NOT MENTION #ALPR USAGE’: How #Cops Are Trying to Hide Their Use of #Flock

When cops use Flock to arrest someone in #WapelloCounty , #Iowa , they don’t want them to know. A usage policy for the automated license plate reader #cameras in the county tells police, in no uncertain terms, to keep them a secret: “DO NOT MENTION ALPR USAGE TO THE OCCUPANTS OF THE VEHICLE,” the policy document reads. “DO NOT MENTION ALPR USAGE IN YOUR REPORT OR COMPLAINT UNLESS ABSOLUTELY NECESSARY.”

The police guidance document is unusual in how clearly it tells police not to mention their Flock use, but it also highlights several important things in the Flock debate. While Flock likes to say that it is a #transparent #surveillance company and that it cares about “accountability” and “governance,” some of its customers believe its use should be kept secret.
#privacy #tracking

https://www.404media.co/do-not-mention-alpr-usage-how-cops-are-trying-to-hide-the-existence-of-flock/

"When cops use Flock to arrest someone in Wapello County, Iowa, they don’t want them to know. A usage policy for the automated license plate reader cameras in the county tells police, in no uncertain terms, to keep them a secret: “DO NOT MENTION ALPR USAGE TO THE OCCUPANTS OF THE VEHICLE,” the policy document reads. “DO NOT MENTION ALPR USAGE IN YOUR REPORT OR COMPLAINT UNLESS ABSOLUTELY NECESSARY.”

The police guidance document is unusual in how clearly it tells police not to mention their Flock use, but it also highlights several important things in the Flock debate. While Flock likes to say that it is a transparent surveillance company and that it cares about “accountability” and “governance,” some of its customers believe its use should be kept secret. Flock is now operating in thousands of cities and towns, and when, how, and why police use the system is wildly inconsistent. Even though Flock does have various auditing and transparency tools, police have their own opinions about what Flock can and should be used for and what the policies for it should be."

https://www.404media.co/do-not-mention-alpr-usage-how-cops-are-trying-to-hide-the-existence-of-flock/

#USA #Flock #Surveillance #PoliceState #ALPR

John Oliver just broke down how US police surveil everyone: plate readers logging every car for 30 days (35%+ of alerts false), ShotSpotter mics that mistake fireworks for gunfire, Stingrays faking cell towers. Worth a watch. youtu.be/lnBPhelCdWE

#surveillance #ALPR #indigoprivacy

Why a #Flock Worker Quit: ‘They Lied’

https://www.404media.co/why-a-flock-worker-quit-they-lied/

#privacy #surveillance #police

How rogue officers turned a nationwide camera network into a tool for stalking

https://www.yahoo.com/news/us/articles/rogue-officers-turned-nationwide-camera-122127787.html

#privacy #surveillance #police

🕵️ Latest from #Surveillance #Technology Oversight Project (S.T.O.P.) #NYC

“BREAKING: S․T․O․P․ Argues Texas App Store Accountability Act Should Be Struck

⌗Surveillance

stopspying․org/content-input/stop-argues-texas-app-store-accountability-act-should-be-struck”

https://bsky.app/profile/stopspyingny.bsky.social/post/3mq3d3pva6c2j

🤖 via RSS feed. May not reflect our views.

Wow cool

“Californians can now delete their personal information from hundreds of data broker websites with a single request, under a first-of-its-kind state privacy program.”
https://bsky.app/profile/ccgene.sheshed.rocks/post/3ms7up662422s

#Privacy #Surveillance #California

Title: The SCREEN Act Threatens Privacy Far Beyond Adult Websites

https://www.techdirt.com/2026/08/03/the-screen-act-threatens-privacy-far-beyond-adult-websites/

#privacy #digitalrights #surveillance

"He had searched her car hundreds of times over a span of about 13 months, sometimes dozens of times a week, the audit records showed. Many of his searches were made between midnight and 4 a.m." Drew Harwell, Douglas MacMillan, and @AaronJSchaffer for The Washington Post https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2026/08/02/how-police-officers-used-vast-network-cameras-spy-their-exes/?src=longreads #surveillance #technology #investigation #journalism #longreads

Steve Elmers, also known as the “Guardrail Guy,” is done calling out license plate readers after two that appeared in his videos were vandalized.

Alt...

The ‘Guardrail Guy’ Went Viral for Posting About Flock Cameras. Then Someone Destroyed Them

🕵️ Latest from #Surveillance #Technology Oversight Project (S.T.O.P.) #NYC

“Join us on July 8 for our Biometric Map Training, on how to use S․T․O․P․'s community-sourced Biometric Map to report sites of facial recognition, palm scans, and more surveillance tools across NYC․

Register here: us02w…”

https://bsky.app/profile/stopspyingny.bsky.social/post/3mpyqzzbptc2v

🤖 via RSS feed. May not reflect our views.

Steganography 101 by Benn Jordan

When our government is spying on everything we post, we probably will still need to hide stuff.

WIth good steganography, hidden messages in plain sight will survive also social media compression, spotify, etc.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fhoJK02oD_E

#steganography #encryption #survival #fascism #autocracy #surveillance

🕵️ Latest from #Surveillance #Technology Oversight Project (S.T.O.P.) #NYC

“Our Communications Director, Will Owen, spoke with Vox about neighborhood surveillance.

"Being a good neighbor does not mean spying on your neighbors. We need to rethink neighborhood surveillance."

Read the full story ...”

https://bsky.app/profile/stopspyingny.bsky.social/post/3mpyemyy6ns2k

🤖 via RSS feed. May not reflect our views.

"Flock says that in optimal conditions, its cameras accurately read more than 96% of license plate characters. Hundreds of pages of records from the Roseville Police Department show a different picture. In 2023 and 2024, Flock sent 1,427 alerts to Roseville police, flagging vehicles as stolen or used in a felony after they passed one of the city's Flock cameras. An analysis by the police department found that in 71% of those alerts, Flock's machine-learning software incorrectly read the license plates.

Business Insider filed public-records requests to obtain email correspondence, data, meeting notes, contracts, and other records that reveal the extensive back-and-forth between Roseville and Flock over repeated errors by Flock's system. The cameras regularly missed vehicles, captured blurry images, misread license plate characters and states, and sent delayed alerts to police about vehicles possibly connected to crimes, the records show.

Roseville — which, Flock noted, has an atypical setup for its cameras— has flagged problems to the startup dozens of times over the past four years. The department said it has reported issues to the company as recently as this year, and it continues to meet with Flock twice a month to provide updates and share concerns."

https://www.businessinsider.com/flock-camera-misread-license-plate-reader-california-roseville-police-2026-7

#USA #Surveillance #Flock #PoliceState #ALPRs

Andy Burnham says Britain’s £1.8bn Digital ID programme is dead. The official record tells a more complicated story.

One Login, GOV.UK Wallet, private verification firms and statutory data-sharing powers remain—alongside Palantir’s expanding NHS and defence footprint.

I traced what was cancelled, and what quietly survived.

https://thomaster.substack.com/p/burnham-cancelled-digital-id-britains

#DigitalID #Palantir #Privacy #Surveillance #CivilLiberties #UKPolitics

Adam's Bail Fund is below 👇🏿

He appears to have a court date set for August 5th.

https://www.gofundme.com/f/support-adam-lee-heimermans-legal-defense

#AdamHeimerman #AdamLeeHeimerman #FuckFlock #tennessee #MutualAid #CourtWatch #Flock #ACAB #USPol #Privacy #surveillance

#Flock cameras are getting mobbed

https://edition.cnn.com/2026/07/30/us/flock-camera-vandalism-protests-cec

#privacy #surveillance

🛡️ #Cybersecurity news & tips across the #fediverse

“#Abortion #Texas #Flock #Surveillance #DeFlock

RE: https://bsky.app/profile/did:plc:slvrwyq6xhuovz27qctcpxqz/post/3mrvhs5m2ys24”

https://bsky.brid.gy/r/https://bsky.app/profile/did:plc:k6icdendy255kankozfy3ezd/post/3mrvidhbqt22l

🤖 via RSS feed. Not an endorsement.

Watching a video on Flock Cameras getting cheese thrown onto them... https://youtube.com/watch?v=jk8cMwzOcak

And becoming livid that the local police have signed up to sponsor the surveillance régime in the middle of downtown.

#duluthmn #surveillance #DeFlock