Police Unmask Millions of #Surveillance Targets Because of #Flock #Redaction Error

A handful of police depts that use Flock have unwittingly leaked details of millions of surveillance targets & a large number of active police investigations around the country because they have failed to redact license plates info in public records releases. Flock responded…by threatening a site that exposed it by limiting the info the public can get via #publicRecords requests
#privacy

https://www.404media.co/police-unmask-millions-of-surveillance-targets-because-of-flock-redaction-error/

Google's shopping AI sparks surveillance pricing debate: Google faces accusations about personalized upselling in Universal Commerce Protocol after January 11 announcement, while company denies claims about price manipulation. https://ppc.land/googles-shopping-ai-sparks-surveillance-pricing-debate/ #Google #ShoppingAI #Surveillance #PriceManipulation #Ecommerce

pcTattletale spyware founder Bryan Fleming pleads guilty to federal hacking and illegal surveillance software charges after HSI probe. 📱
The case highlights how stalkerware operators openly market non-consensual tracking, raising accountability gaps despite known privacy risks. ⚖️

🔗 https://techcrunch.com/2026/01/06/founder-of-spyware-maker-pctattletale-pleads-guilty-to-hacking-and-advertising-surveillance-software/

#TechNews #Privacy #Security #Spyware #Data #Rights #Stalkerware #Law #Accountability #Surveillance #Tech #Cybersecurity #Justice #DigitalRights #Crime

The city used to be a place where you could disappear. That city is dead.

Tomorrow on Impractical Privacy, we are talking about the "Spy in the Sidewalk."

Your streetlights have Bluetooth sniffers. Your neighbors' Ring cameras have built a mesh network you can't opt out of.

We’re breaking down the infrastructure of the Sentient City. Get your Faraday bags ready. 🕵️‍♂️📡

Listen here, or wherever you get your podcasts:
impracticalprivacy.com/

#Privacy #Infosec #OpSec #Fediverse #Surveillance

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Podcast cover art titled "Impractical Privacy, Episode 9: The Rise of the Sentient City." The illustration features a rainy, futuristic cyberpunk city street at night, illuminated by neon green lights, holographic data streams on the buildings, and floating surveillance camera icons. The name "Sudo" appears in a stylized neon signature in the bottom right corner.

“There’s this veneer of respect for privacy that is painted over all of this data aggregation and consolidation.”

But beneath it all, #privacy experts warn that smartphone-monitoring software "Tangles" is the latest in a law enforcement arsenal, from surveillance #tech to an army of drones, operating with little oversight.

Our latest from Francesca D'Annunzio is presented in partnership with the Pulitzer Center. https://www.texasobserver.org/texas-police-invest-tangles-sheriff-surveillance/

#police #surveillance #law #politics #USpol #news

Signal leaders warn agentic AI is an insecure, unreliable surveillance risk

https://coywolf.com/news/productivity/signal-president-and-vp-warn-agentic-ai-is-insecure-unreliable-and-a-surveillance-nightmare/

#HackerNews #Signal #AI #surveillance #insecure #unreliable #agenticAI #cybersecurity

The document shows a shift at ICE towards lawless roving patrols.

There's obviously no requirement for American citizens to carry proof of citizenship at all times.

But not only is ICE demanding proof of citizenship while pointing guns at people they are also demanding biometric scans of faces and even fingerprints without a warrant or even probable cause!

https://acrobat.adobe.com/id/urn:aaid:sc:va6c2:17bce349-bea7-4b29-b0de-cf1e2e6dc3e5?viewer%21megaVerb=group-discover

#ICE #Privacy #Biometrics #surveillance #MobileFortify

🚨 Alarming update: ICE gains ability to spy on every phone in neighborhoods via advanced surveillance tools, tracking devices block by block. Privacy at risk? Read more: https://www.wired.com/story/security-news-this-week-ice-can-now-spy-on-every-phone-in-your-neighborhood/ #PrivacyMatters #SurveillanceState #TechNews #Privacy #Security #Surveillance #Newz

"Germany’s government is preparing to give its foreign intelligence service, the Bundesnachrichtendienst (BND), far broader powers over online surveillance and hacking than it has ever had before.

A draft amendment to the BND Act, circulating by German media, would transform the agency’s reach by authorizing it to break into foreign digital systems, collect and store large portions of internet traffic, and analyze those communications retroactively.

At the core of this plan is Frankfurt’s DE-CIX internet exchange, one of the largest data junctions on the planet.

For thirty years, global traffic has passed through this node, and for just as long, the BND has quietly operated there under government supervision, scanning international data streams for intelligence clues.

Until now, this monitoring has been limited. The agency could capture metadata such as connection records, but not the full content of messages, and any data collected had to be reviewed and filtered quickly.

The proposed legal reform would overturn those restrictions.

The BND would be permitted to copy and retain not only metadata but also entire online conversations, including emails, chats, and other content, for up to six months."

https://reclaimthenet.org/germany-bnd-surveillance-law-expansion-de-cix-data-retention-hacking

#Germany #EU #Surveillance #Metadata #DataRetention #StateHacking

RE: https://mastodon.social/@eff/115877306890689944

L'industrie de la #surveillance est un facteur clé des violations des droits humains à grande échelle et dans l'opacité la plus complète comme on l'a vu avec les actions de l'#ICE. Les entreprises cherchent à profiter des #données de millions d'utilisateurs tandis que l'ICE crée l'une des plus vastes et plus complètes machines de surveillance de l'Histoire.

Privacy and Surveillance boosted

Electronic Frontier Foundation » 🌐 2026-01-11
@eff@mastodon.social

The surveillance industry is a key enabler of vast and untold violations of human rights and civil liberties like we’ve seen in the actions of ICE. The industry seeks to profit off the data of millions while ICE creates one of the largest, most comprehensive surveillance machines in history. https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2026/01/ice-going-surveillance-shopping-spree

"ICE has been invading U.S. cities, targeting, surveilling, harassing, assaulting, detaining, and torturing people who are undocumented immigrants. They also have targeted people with work permits, asylum seekers, permanent residents (people holding “green cards”), naturalized citizens, and even citizens by birth. ICE has spent hundreds of millions of dollars on surveillance technology to spy on anyone—and potentially everyone—in the United States. It can be hard to imagine how to defend oneself against such an overwhelming force. But a few enterprising hackers have started projects to do counter surveillance against ICE, and hopefully protect their communities through clever use of technology.

Let’s start with Flock, the company behind a number of automated license plate reader (ALPR) and other camera technologies. You might be surprised at how many Flock cameras there are in your community. Many large and small municipalities around the country have signed deals with Flock for license plate readers to track the movement of all cars in their city. Even though these deals are signed by local police departments, oftentimes ICE also gains access.

Because of their ubiquity, people are interested in finding out where and how many Flock cameras are in their community. One project that can help with this is the OUI-SPY, a small piece of open source hardware. The OUI-SPY runs on a cheap Arduino compatible chip called an ESP-32."

https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2026/01/how-hackers-are-fighting-back-against-ice

#USA #ICE #Immigration #Surveillance #PoliceState #Hacking #Flock #OpenSource

"By now, we’ve all heard the familiar refrain: “It’s for your safety.” It’s the soothing mantra of every government official who’s ever wanted a peek behind your digital curtains.

This week, with a move that would make East Germany blush, the UK government officially confirmed its intention to hand Ofcom (yes, that Ofcom, the regulator that once investigated whether Love Island was too spicy) the keys to your private messages.

The country, already experiencing rapidly declining civil liberties, is now planning to scan encrypted chats for “bad stuff.”

Now, for those unfamiliar, Ofcom is the UK’s communications regulator that has recently been given censorship pressure powers for online speech.

It’s become the government’s Swiss Army knife for everything from internet censorship to now, apparently, full-blown surveillance.

Under the Online Safety Act, Ofcom has been handed something called Section 121, which sounds like a tax loophole but is actually a legal crowbar for prying open encrypted messages."

https://reclaimthenet.org/uk-orders-ofcom-to-explore-encryption-backdoors

#UK #Ofcom #Surveillance #CyberSecurity #Encryption #Backdoors

If you ever wonder what clumsy mass surveillance and information suppression look like, Iran is showcasing them right now. Sadly, it is also a deadly struggle between the regime and its people.
#internet #surveillance
https://ppc.land/iran-goes-dark-98-of-internet-infrastructure-collapses-in-nationwide-shutdown/

Word Of The Day: Schutzstaffel

80 years ago, when the Nazi regime finally collapsed, the Schutzstaffel had been "the foremost agency of security, mass surveillance, and state terrorism within Germany and German-occupied Europe."

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Schutzstaffel

Connect the dots.

#SS #surveillance #terrorism #privacy

🔒 Research survey: Privacy-first social platform

I need honest feedback.

Problem: Nothing serves the "private social groups" use case with real encryption.

Idea: E2E encrypted social platform for family/friend groups. Subscription-based (no ads, no data mining). Open source.

Would you pay $5/month for this? Would you switch?

2-min anonymous survey: https://forms.gle/ixH54jME9nsRYBzy9

#privacy #opensource #socialmedia #degoogle #EndToEndEncryption #surveillance #dataprotection

Boosts appreciated! 🙏

Flock Hardcoded the Password for America's Surveillance Infrastructure 53 Times

https://nexanet.ai/blog/53-times-flocksafety-hardcoded-the-password-for-americas-surveillance-infrastructure

#HackerNews #FlockSafety #Surveillance #Infrastructure #Password #Breach #Cybersecurity #Privacy #Issues #America

WA state governor demonstrating that people hate AI slop so much they are willing to turn each chatbot into flock camera for teens.

Just watch, if conservatives are ever in power this will be used to detect queers, brown kids asking historical questions and women looking for abortions.

AI slop is bad, not so bad I'm willing to force mass surveillance on teens.

#BobFerguson #Liberals #AISlop #cybersecurity #privacy #flock #surveillance #teens #freedomofspeech #mentalhealth

Hackers are developing open-source tools like OUI-SPY and crowdsourced maps (deflock.me, alpr.watch) to detect and counter ICE's automated license plate readers and surveillance cameras. 🔍
These counter-surveillance efforts aim to protect communities from mass tracking, though legal risks remain. ⚖️

@eff

🔗 https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2026/01/how-hackers-are-fighting-back-against-ice

#TechNews #Privacy #Surveillance #Data #Security #Rights #OpenSource #Policy #DigitalRights #Tech #Ethics #Freedom #Hackers #Hacking #ICE #USA #US #Trump #DonaldTrump

EFF warns new online age‑verification mandates risk expanding surveillance, censorship, and exclusion for adults and kids alike. 🪪
They’ve launched a resource hub to track these laws and defend privacy, anonymity, and free expression online. 📚

@eff

🔗 https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2026/01/effecting-change-human-cost-online-age-verification

#TechNews #Privacy #Surveillance #Censorship #Data #Rights #Security #AI #Policy #Regulation #DigitalRights #FreeSpeech #Internet #USA #EFF #AgeVerification #Exclusion #Inclusion

Wegmans is now scanning shoppers’ faces, eyes, and voices in NYC stores—with no opt‑out or clear data deletion policy. 🛒
The grocery chain cites “security,” but privacy groups warn of lasting biometric risks and disproportionate impacts. ⚠️

🔗 https://www.gadgetreview.com/theres-no-opt-out-wegmans-is-now-scanning-your-face-at-the-grocery-store

#TechNews #Privacy #Surveillance #Data #Biometrics #AI #Security #Rights #Ethics #Accountability #Technology #Policy #DigitalRights #USA #BigData #Retail #US #NYC #NewYork #NewYorkCity #Wegmans

Surveillance Watch – a map that shows connections between surveillance companies

https://www.surveillancewatch.io

#HackerNews #SurveillanceWatch #Surveillance #PrivacyTech #SurveillanceCompanies #DataMapping

How #Hackers Are Fighting Back Against #ICE

ICE has spent hundreds of millions of dollars on #surveillance technology to #spy on anyone—and potentially everyone—in the United States. It can be hard to imagine how to defend oneself against such an overwhelming force. But a few enterprising hackers have started projects to do counter surveillance against ICE, and hopefully protect their communities through clever use of technology.
#privacy

https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2026/01/how-hackers-are-fighting-back-against-ice

I learned more in reading just this one story about the use of surveillance and ALPR in #SanDiego than I have in all the U-T articles over the last several years - really thorough reporting by rookie journalist Tihut Tamrat at The San Diego Voice and Viewpoint

https://sdvoice.info/whos-watching-the-watchers/

#Surveillance #ALPR

#ICE #surveillance

"Inside ICE’s Tool to Monitor Phones in Entire Neighborhoods

404 Media has obtained material that explains how Tangles and Webloc, two surveillance systems ICE recently purchased, work. Webloc can track phones without a warrant and follow their owners home or to their employer."

https://archive.ph/HYbBG#selection-561.0-561.217

Law enforcement has more tools than ever to track your movements and access your communications. Here’s how to protect your privacy if you plan to protest.

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How to Protest Safely in the Age of Surveillance

Age verification changed the internet in 2025 – here's what it means for your privacy in 2026

Digital rights groups say that age verification measures compromise privacy, weaken data security, and invite unprecedented levels of censorship

#surveillance #privacy #censorship #ageverification #socialmedia #security #cybersecurity #technology #tech

https://www.techradar.com/vpn/vpn-privacy-security/age-verification-changed-the-internet-in-2025-heres-what-it-means-for-your-privacy-in-2026

Inside ICE’s Tool to Monitor Phones in Entire Neighborhoods

"...404 Media has obtained material that explains how Tangles and Webloc, two surveillance systems ICE recently purchased, work. Webloc can track phones without a warrant and follow their owners home or to their employer...."

https://www.404media.co/inside-ices-tool-to-monitor-phones-in-entire-neighborhoods/

#bigbrother #surveillance #ice #fascism

Las Vegas police expand drone program with new operation center

Department flew 10,000 drone missions in 2025 and plans to double operations with new state-of-the-art facility that can respond to calls in under 2 minutes

As if there wasn't already enough surveillance in Vegas. 🙄

https://www.ktnv.com/news/las-vegas-police-expand-drone-program-with-new-operation-center

#BigBrother #Surveillance #PoliceState #ACAB #Vegas