Crow's Nest
Tuesday, September 29, 2026 · The digital civil-liberties brief · View on the web
Germany's parliament passed a Federal Police Act reform on Sept. 25 permitting real-time facial recognition; officers may enter homes to install Trojan spyware
Germany's parliament approved legislation granting federal police expanded surveillance powers, including automated real-time facial recognition and spyware deployment at transit hubs and border areas, according to reports from Streamline Feed and UA.NEWS. (streamlinefeed.co.ke)
Top
- Manitowoc Mayor Justin Nickels will not renew the city's Flock Safety camera contract when it expires next year; the city deactivated its cameras this month (WBAY)
- A security researcher found dozens of Flock license-plate cameras streaming openly to the internet; the network stores innocent drivers' movements for 30 days (wdtv.com)
- Ruling: Judge David Barlow blocked a Utah SB 73 mandate requiring adult sites to verify users on VPNs; Pornhub parent Aylo brought the Commerce Clause lawsuit (biometricupdate.com)
- A Defense Manpower Data Center breach exposed unencrypted files and Social Security numbers of up to 4 million personnel between October 2025 and July 16, 2026 (22 News WWLP)
- Connecticut's 39-section CART Act takes effect Oct. 1 with AI disclosure rules; Public Act No. 26-64 restricts facial recognition and bans genetic data sales (ctmirror.org)
The pattern
Audits and charges in three jurisdictions revealed police officers misusing automated license-plate readers for personal tracking.
- Texas judge Todd Kassaw cut bond to $250,000 for Lufkin officer Zachary Klein; an Aug. 21 indictment alleges he ran 10,000 unauthorized Flock camera searches (KLTV.com)
- Audit: Texas City police audit found 58 unauthorized Flock searches out of 11,900 from January to June; Galveston County prosecutors declined to file charges (Houston Chronicle)
- Indiana Gov. Mike Braun called Flock tracking a civil-liberties issue; five Indianapolis police officers face charges for allegedly tracking partners and exes (93.1FM WIBC)
Flock watch
- Monterey County supervisors voted 3-2 on Sept. 22 to reject a $1.7 million Flock contract; the board ordered the sheriff to remove 63 cameras within 60 days (California City News)
- Augusta County, Virginia, removes its Flock Safety surveillance cameras, according to reporting published by Staunton's local newspaper The News Leader (The News Leader | Staunton, VA)
- San Francisco Mayor Daniel Lurie cut police Flock camera data retention from one year to 30 days; outside agencies logged 1.6 million improper searches (Mission Local)
- Alexandria, Virginia police will publish a map of the 61 Flock cameras by Oct. 1; criminologist Robin Engel will conduct an independent surveillance audit (ALXnow)
- The Idaho Statesman reports a Boise-area town removed its automated license-plate readers (Idaho Statesman)
Surveillance & Privacy
- Audit: Seattle Police Department accesses internal transportation camera feeds without a written agreement; the city agencies maintain conflicting policies (KING5.com)
- FOIA: British Transport Police scanned 500,000 faces in a £320,786 facial recognition trial with no arrests; the trial was expanded to Underground stations (theguardian.com)
- Police have wrongfully arrested at least 16 people following alleged facial recognition errors, a policing tech expert told Fox News Digital (foxnews.com)
- Ruling: In No. 26-1049 on Sept. 25, 2026, the D.C. Circuit ruled 2-1 to uphold a federal ban on Anthropic after it barred Claude from mass domestic surveillance (The National Law Review - A Free To Use Nationwide Database of Legal Publications)
Coming Up
Tue Sep 29 · DEADLINE · South Africa — Bids close for State Information Technology Agency tender to supply police facial recognition body-worn and dashboard cameras (biometricupdate.com)
Tue Sep 29 · HEARING · Chicago, IL — U.S. Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals hears oral arguments in Fourth Amendment challenge to Illinois automated license plate readers (The Madison-St. Clair Record)
Tue Sep 29 · MEETING · Delavan, Wisconsin — Delavan General Operations Committee holds a special meeting to discuss the future of Flock surveillance cameras (TMJ4)
Tue Sep 29 · VOTE · Travis County, TX — Travis County Commissioners Court considers final budget adoption including a proposed $10 million Axon police surveillance technology expansion (Austin American-Statesman)
Wed Sep 30 · DEADLINE · Florida — Deadline for law enforcement agencies to remove Flock Safety and automated license plate readers from Florida state highway rights of way (WIOD)
Wed Sep 30 · DEADLINE · California — Gov. Gavin Newsom faces deadline to act on passed privacy and AI legislation, including SB 690 (jdsupra.com)
Speech & Press
- Filing: CNN, MS NOW and Politico ask a D.C. judge to extend an injunction against Donald Trump's White House ban; Judge Timothy Kelly granted a 14-day order (U.S. News & World Report)
- Bill: Pennsylvania Senate Judiciary Committee advanced a bill requiring state ID for sites with one-third adult content; two members voted against it on Monday (penncapital-star.com)
- A Santa Fe jury found Meta willfully violated New Mexico's Unfair Practices Act 43,899,720 times; Attorney General Raúl Torrez seeks up to $219 billion in fines (independentsentinel.com)
Useful
Surveillance Self-Defense — EFF's guides to protecting yourself from surveillance, written for people, not engineers. Start with the one for your situation.
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