The surveillance & liberty brief

Crow's Nest tracks license-plate readers, facial recognition, police surveillance and the wider civil-liberties beat, town by town. One free email each weekday morning, every line linked to the reporting it came from.

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Minnesota jurisdictions drop Flock cameras

Monday, September 14, 2026 · 26 stories · view as email

Top

Six Minnesota jurisdictions drop Flock license plate cameras over immigration searches.(Allison Kite / Star Tribune)

According to the Star Tribune, six Minnesota jurisdictions dropped Flock Safety license-plate cameras after voter pushback and evidence of data misuse, including searches for immigration enforcement.

ANALYSISFlock License Plate Readers Face Bipartisan Pushback and Privacy Concerns in Minnesota (Tri-City Herald)

Texas and Florida curb Flock cameras amid 201 local contract cancellations.(The Daily Caller)

El Paso councilmembers propose removing all Flock surveillance cameras within 60 days.(Chron)

Parkville pauses its Flock surveillance cameras following resident concerns over data access.(The Kansas City Star)

A Kosciusko County prosecutor orders police to decommission Flock license plate readers.(NewsChannel 15 WANE-TV Fort Wayne)

Access Now urges European officials to challenge Canada's proposed surveillance mandates.(accessnow.org)

Under the radar

An Athens-Clarke police analyst tracked his ex-wife using Flock license plate readers.(Yahoo)

Peachtree City fires two police officers for misusing Flock surveillance cameras.(Yahoo)

An Albany County investigator ran 3,000 unauthorized Flock searches targeting an ex-girlfriend.(Futurism)

Tempe approves a $7 million police surveillance contract after ditching Flock cameras.(abc15 Arizona)

Flock watch

Pflugerville, Texas shrouds municipal Flock surveillance cameras(mySA)

Delaware deploys Flock surveillance cameras statewide(spotlightdelaware.org)

Plano, Ill. conducts 1,200 searches for minor offenses(lewrockwell.com)

Secure Justice reports 214 communities dropped Flock cameras(techdirt.com)

Conroe, Texas approves $130,000 Flock camera contract(Houston Chronicle)

Kosciusko County, Ind. orders shutdown of Flock surveillance cameras(95.3 MNC)

Anderson, Calif. opposes police Flock license plate readers(Action News Now)

South Carolina funds expansion of Flock surveillance cameras(scdailygazette.com)

Local governments cancel Flock contracts nationwide(theverge.com)

Surveillance & Privacy

Minneapolis church asks a judge to sanction Homeland Security for undercover surveillance.(WDIV)

Anthropic deploys predictive surveillance to monitor activists near executives and facilities.(lewrockwell.com)

Revolut disclosed customer records following a fraudulent government data request.(CoinDesk)

Greg Newburn urges lawmakers to regulate police surveillance instead of passing bans.(thehill.com)

Coming Up

Mon Sep 14

MeetingYork, ME — York Selectboard hears a police update on Flock surveillance cameras (Seacoastonline.com)

Tue Sep 15

Comments dueTempe, AZ — Public survey closes on proposed ordinance banning automated license plate readers (abc15 Arizona)

Tue Sep 15

Takes effectDallas, TX — Dallas Police Department deactivates 321 state-funded Flock license plate reader cameras (The Epoch Times)

Tue Sep 15

MeetingEl Paso, TX — El Paso City Council considers proposals to eliminate the city's use of Flock license-plate surveillance cameras (Chron)

Tue Sep 15

VoteOconomowoc, WI — City of Oconomowoc votes on the continued use of Flock surveillance cameras (TMJ4)

Tue Sep 15

VoteRacine, Wisconsin — Common Council reviews committee vote on ending the Flock Safety contract (TMJ4)

Full calendar and .ics feed →

Speech & Press

Justice Department sent FBI agents to reporters' homes to seize devices.(electionlawblog.org)

Federal judge blocks a rule requiring federal job applicants to write loyalty essays.(Market Screener)

Bangladesh proposes 10-year prison sentences for journalists publishing unverified news.(cpj.org)

Useful

Community Control Over Police Surveillance(aclu.org)

The ACLU's model ordinance that makes a city council vote in public before police buy surveillance tech. Two dozen cities have passed a version.

All the tools and guides →

Past issues

Thu, Oct 29

Telangana police launch facial recognition

Wed, Oct 28

Flock Safety removed six license plate…

Tue, Oct 27

Suffolk Constabulary will deploy live…

Mon, Oct 26

New York passes license plate reader bill

Fri, Oct 23

Met Police deploys live facial recognition

Thu, Oct 22

A New Mexico judge orders Meta…

Wed, Oct 21

Madison County drops Flock Safety contract

Tue, Oct 20

ACLU warns ICE could target activists

Mon, Oct 19

El Paso bars Flock license plate reader deals

Fri, Oct 16

Courts reject DOJ voter roll lawsuits

Each issue is the day's brief as it went to subscribers. The feed has everything we tracked that did not make the email.