Five Texas cities drop Flock cameras

Wired reported it reverse-engineered Flock Safety's software, finding police can run AI-driven queries and automated watchlists across 120,000 cameras to track individuals matching physical descriptions.

Utah agreed to suspend enforcement of its online age-verification law while a federal court considers a challenge by Pornhub parent Aylo, TechRadar reports. The measure would penalize websites if they fail to detect local users attempting to bypass age gates with VPNs.

According to the crowd-sourced project DeFlock, reported by WGN-TV, Flock Safety operates about 82% of roughly 138,000 automated license plate readers mapped across the country. Companies including Motorola Solutions and Genetec account for much of the remainder tracking driver movements.

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis announced plans to revoke state highway permits for Flock surveillance cameras, while Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro endorsed a statewide ban on the technology, NPR reported. Both governors stated that the AI-driven license plate network threatens to establish a surveillance state.

The Register reports that Grindr admitted no liability while resolving claims that it improperly shared sensitive user data, including HIV status, with commercial third parties.

The FBI is investigating reports that a dark web marketplace offered over 150 million scanned North American driver's licenses, according to BankInfoSecurity. Biometric Update reports the data breach included home addresses and valid credentials, driving calls for cryptographic identity verification.

Florida law enforcement agencies continue operating automated license plate readers despite a state transportation mandate revoking camera permits on state roads, the Miami Herald and WTXL reported.

According to a federal lawsuit reported by Biometric Update, Meta extracted biometric data from user and non-user photos on Instagram and Facebook without consent to train generative AI models and test an unreleased smart-glasses feature dubbed "NameTag."

Tallahassee commissioners are reviewing the police department's deployment of 155 automated license plate readers, which operate under department rules requiring officers to log search reasons, WTXL reported.

Representative Lauren Boebert condemned the expansion of Flock automated license plate readers, warning in an op-ed that the mass-surveillance network trades civil liberties for security, the Washington Times reported.

Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes launched a statewide inquiry into whether local police use of automated license plate readers violates Fourth Amendment protections against warrantless searches, The Center Square reported.

Milwaukee prosecutors continue to use facial recognition evidence obtained through other agencies' software licenses despite a municipal police ban on the technology, the Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service reported.

KCRA reports Grass Valley police dismantled automated Flock cameras and cut their data feeds after a third-party vendor mistakenly reinstalled the surveillance gear following the cancellation of the city's contract.