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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Flock Safety gave feds Boston ALPR data

Tuesday, September 15, 2026 · 28 stories · view as email

Top

Flock Safety gave federal agencies access to Boston vehicle tracking data.(WBUR 90.9 mHz)

A city surveillance audit revealed Flock Safety permitted outside agencies, including the DEA and State Department, to access Boston vehicle tracking data despite contract terms barring third-party sharing, WBUR reports.

Flock Enabled Outside Access to Boston License Plate Data Despite City Ban (The Boston Globe)

A police officer searched 82,413 cameras after typing idk into audit logs.(eff.org)

U.S. Customs and Border Protection solicits walk-through facial recognition across 38 airport terminals.(biometricupdate.com)

Pubs and shops in England and Wales accept digital ID for age verification.(bigbrotherwatch.org.uk)

A Maine lobsterman challenges mandatory round-the-clock boat GPS tracking at the Supreme Court.(yourconroenews.com)

An Oregon lawmaker seeks review of a state fusion center over speech surveillance.(woodburnindependent.com)

The pattern

Four officers were fired, arrested or charged this week for misusing plate-reader data.

San Jose fired an officer for tracking a domestic violence accuser with Flock.(San Francisco Gate)

University of Georgia police suspended an employee over 2 unauthorized Flock searches.(CBS News)

Amarillo police arrested an ex-officer for querying a romantic rival's plate 76 times.(Amarillo Globe-News)

Cobb County jailed a former Acworth officer on 2 counts of Flock misuse.(FOX 5 Atlanta)

Under the radar

De Pere barred Flock cameras following an offer to sell 5 years of data.(https://www.wsaw.com)

Durango advocates push a warrant requirement and a 72-hour cap on license plate data.(Durango Herald)

Flock watch

Texas blocks Flock camera funds amid cancellations(The Daily Caller)

Donald Trump backs Flock license plate readers(thehill.com)

Local governments cancel Flock license plate reader contracts(theverge.com)

El Paso, Texas proposes removing Flock cameras in 60 days(Chron)

Minnesota drops Flock cameras across six jurisdictions(Star Tribune)

U.S. Congress ties highway funds to plate reader limits(wired.com)

Muncie, Ind. signs secret $300,000 Flock surveillance contract(Muncie Voice)

Lowell, Ark. considers banning Flock cameras 1 year later(Home Page)

Humboldt County, Calif. supervisor quits panel after 3.5-hour Flock debate(Lost Coast Outpost)

Surveillance & Privacy

Access Now urged the European Union to press Canada over proposed surveillance mandates.(accessnow.org)

The D.C. police union filed misconduct complaints over internal affairs tracking officers with Flock.(Washington Post)

Newnan restricted access to 5 Flock surveillance cameras exclusively to police supervisors.(FOX 5 Atlanta)

San Francisco police accidentally broadcast hours of live drone surveillance footage online.(minnesotareformer.com)

Coming Up

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)

Tue Sep 15

VoteEl Paso, Texas — El Paso City Council considers proposals to remove Flock surveillance cameras and ban future contracts (Chron)

Full calendar and .ics feed →

Speech & Press

A bipartisan House bill banning social media under 16 incentivizes intrusive age verification.(reclaimthenet.org)

An online speech researcher continues work despite federal deportation threats.(arstechnica.com)

Motorcycle gunmen fired shots at a Peruvian news outlet's office in Lambayeque.(cpj.org)

Useful

Street-Level Surveillance(sls.eff.org)

EFF's explainers on each police technology: what an ALPR, a drone, a cell-site simulator or a face recognition system actually does with your data.

All the tools and guides →

Past issues

Fri, Sep 25

India's Ministry of Home Affairs directed…

Thu, Sep 24

Massachusetts and Wisconsin fusion centers…

Wed, Sep 23

Carey bans ALPRs and facial recognition

Tue, Sep 22

Western Australia Police Force scanned…

Mon, Sep 21

Las Cruces adds Flock camera privacy rules

Fri, Sep 18

LiveView and Axon let police stream cameras

Thu, Sep 17

El Paso votes to remove Flock cameras

Wed, Sep 16

Hackers dump Flock camera data

Mon, Sep 14

Minnesota jurisdictions drop Flock cameras

Fri, Sep 11

Tempe proposes license plate reader ban

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