Crow's Nest
Wednesday, September 9, 2026 · The digital civil-liberties brief · View on the web
Top News
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott freezes ALPR funds after a Lufkin officer stalked an ex 10,000 times; Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis also moves to restrict the technology (Jacob Sullum / Reason)
Reason reports Texas Gov. Greg Abbott froze state funding for automated license plate readers while Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis moved to curb them, following criminal charges against police officers in both states who allegedly used the surveillance databases to stalk personal targets.
Ruling: U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit blocks IRS from sharing millions of addresses with ICE; 3-judge panel upholds lower court order on Tuesday (Rebecca Beitsch / thehill.com)
The D.C. Circuit upheld a ruling blocking the IRS from disclosing millions of taxpayers' addresses to Immigration and Customs Enforcement, The Hill reported, after judges rejected ICE's sweeping bulk data request.
Five Central Texas cities ended Flock camera use in August 2025 after Pflugerville logs showed 459 entities ran 1.6 million searches; Abbott halted spending (Austin Sanders / Austin American-Statesman)
At least five Central Texas cities and Governor Greg Abbott halted contracts with Flock Safety after public records revealed 459 outside agencies conducted nearly 1.6 million searches on local license-plate surveillance data, the Austin American-Statesman reported.
7 Connecticut towns contract with BusPatrol to install AI license plate readers on school buses; New Haven logged 12,000 incidents across over 300 buses (Angela Eichhorst / The Connecticut Mirror)
Seven Connecticut municipalities have contracted with BusPatrol to mount automated cameras on school buses that log license plates and send footage to police when stop arms are deployed, The Connecticut Mirror reported, noting New Haven alone recorded 12,000 incidents.
Stevens Point, Winnebago County, Fond du Lac County and Sheboygan move away from Flock cameras in Wisconsin; Stevens Point began covering cameras on Tuesday (wisconsinexaminer.com)
The Wisconsin Examiner reports that Stevens Point covered its license plate reader cameras while exploring termination options, while Sheboygan severed ties with Flock, joining Fond du Lac and Winnebago counties.
Social media platforms privately resist Immigration and Customs Enforcement subpoenas seeking to unmask anonymous accounts tracking immigration enforcement (Mario Trujillo / techdirt.com)
Techdirt reports that major social media companies have resisted administrative subpoenas from Immigration and Customs Enforcement aimed at identifying anonymous accounts that tracked immigration enforcement or criticized the government.
Surveillance & Privacy
Sainsbury's expands Facewatch from 55 to 200 UK stores by end of 2026; Scottish Biometrics Commissioner Brian Plastow calls Scotland's 2011 rules outdated (biometricupdate.com)
Tech Times reports Scottish Biometrics Commissioner Brian Plastow called the government's surveillance policy outdated as retailers expand Facewatch facial recognition technology into hundreds of locations without statutory oversight.
In August, Sullivan County, Tennessee Commissioner Joe Carr condemned Flock Safety; communities across the state reconsider its traffic surveillance cameras (Larry Griffin / tennesseelookout.com)
The Tennessee Lookout reports that pushback against Flock Safety's traffic surveillance cameras is intensifying across local governments, underscored by a Sullivan County commissioner denouncing the monitoring at a public meeting.
Steubenville, Ohio debates 11 Flock license-plate cameras installed without a vote; Councilman Royal Mayo seeks an immediate halt before March 2026 grant ends (Steven Moore / WTRF)
WTRF and WTOV report that Steubenville residents and officials debated 11 Flock license-plate cameras installed without a council vote. Councilman Royal Mayo moved to halt the surveillance over privacy objections, while Councilman Joel Walker proposed keeping the cameras unless they are ruled illegal.
Grand Rapids police and Kent County, Michigan launch Flock portals on September 8, 2026; GRPD keeps 30 days of data and the county sheriff manages 62 cameras (Donny Ede / WWMT)
WOOD-TV and WWMT report that Grand Rapids police and the Kent County Sheriff's Office launched public dashboards disclosing operational Flock camera counts, search queries, and justifications, with data updated every 24 hours.
Utah's Department of Commerce paused enforcement of SB 73, effective September 3, 2026, targeting VPNs; Pornhub parent Aylo filed a federal court lawsuit (Rene Millman / TechRadar)
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.
Utah Pauses Enforcement of Age-Verification Law for VPN Users Amid Legal Challenge (Idaho State Journal)
Alabama Power facilitates Flock surveillance camera deployments in Birmingham; the report is the fifth in an Inside Climate News series on electric rates (alabamareflector.com)
Police in an Illinois town scanned Flock surveillance cameras more than 1,200 times to investigate cases of loitering, tracking people for standing around (theintercept.com)
Dark web market Nexus offered 170 million scanned North American IDs, including 153 million driver's licenses; FBI probes listing from Russian forum Exploit (biometricupdate.com)
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.
Coming Up
Wed Sep 9 · HEARING · Court — Hearing in news outlets' free speech lawsuit challenging Penn State University's trustee gag rule (The College Fix)
Wed Sep 9 · MEETING · Tallahassee, FL — Tallahassee City Commission discusses operational Flock license plate reader cameras (WTXL ABC 27 Tallahassee News)
Thu Sep 10 · MEETING · Alexandria, MN — Alexandria Police Department hosts a public forum on Flock surveillance cameras (Echo Press)
Mon Sep 14 · TAKES EFFECT · Oklahoma — Alcoholic beverage establishments and tobacco retailers begin accepting digital driver licenses and state IDs for age verification (News 9)
Mon Sep 14 · MEETING · York, ME — York Selectboard hears a police update on Flock surveillance cameras (Seacoastonline.com)
Tue Sep 15 · TAKES EFFECT · Dallas, TX — Dallas Police Department deactivates 321 state-funded Flock license plate reader cameras (The Epoch Times)
Speech, Press & Transparency
Ruling: The D.C. Circuit revives a lawsuit alleging that a bar was denied a liquor license over protected speech, allowing the legal challenge to go forward (Eugene Volokh / reason.com)
Four of 13 Ohio colleges failed the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression's speech rankings; nearly 63,000 students were polled via College Pulse (Megan Henry / ohiocapitaljournal.com)
Bill: North Dakota lawmakers will consider the Uniform Public Expression Protection Act in January 2027; Justice Jerod Tufte chairs the state delegation (northdakotamonitor.com)
Ruling: Manhattan Judge Loretta Preska dismisses 47-year-old Imran Ahmed's deportation suit; a restraining order stays in effect 5 business days for appeal (Reuters / Market Screener)
More on the Beat
CBP seizes an attorney's devices and revokes his Global Entry status at Washington Dulles International Airport after he cites client privilege on passwords (Gia Marcos / TheTravel)
Lubbock Police Chief Seth Herman defends 12 fixed and 6 mobile Flock cameras to council on Sept. 9, 2026; photo retention will drop from 30 days to 7 days (Brittany Crittenden / https://www.kcbd.com)
Cincinnati council members Anna Albi, Seth Walsh, and Jeff Cramerding seek a drone and ALPR report; the city currently keeps surveillance data in a closed loop (Daniel Zivian / WKRC)
Springfield, Missouri police deploy autonomous 911 drones from 2 rooftop docks at headquarters and Fire Station 9; 40 to 50 pilots operate around the clock (Phil Rodriguez / https://www.ky3.com)
Rockingham County commissioners pass ordinance regulating automated license plate readers; County Manager Lance Metzler notes Reidsville already deployed Flock (Bethany Cates / WXII)
Bernalillo County Sheriff's Office drops Flock after a Rio Rancho man dismantled readers; Sheriff John Allen turns to Axon to stop national database pooling (John Rupolo / KOAT 7)
South Windsor, Connecticut Town Council debates Flock cameras as Chief Kristian Lindstrom cites 104 assists; resident Tim Appleton objects to surveillance (Bob Wilson / WTNH)
Amarillo, Texas cuts Flock camera data retention from 30 to seven days; Chief Thomas Hover orders three-day reviews following officer Christian Eder's firing (Blass Guerrero / NBC4 - Amarillo)
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