Crow's Nest
Monday, October 12, 2026 · The digital civil-liberties brief · View on the web
UK Border Force launched facial recognition at East Midlands Airport.
UK Border Force has begun rolling out contactless eGates that photograph arriving British passengers and check their biometric images against travel and identity databases, London999 reports. Officials plan to expand the passport-free facial recognition system nationwide by early 2027. (reclaimthenet.org)
UK Airports Begin Rollout of Passport-Free Facial Recognition eGates (london999.co.uk)
Top
- Anderson County moves to halt Flock surveillance cameras over privacy concerns. (Greenville Online)
- Madison Heights, Michigan will disconnect its three city-run Flock license plate cameras. (CBS News)
- Judges authorized cell-site simulators to track a student who helped Don Lemon. (wired.com)
- U.S. District Judge Sparkle Sooknanan blocks DOJ collection of state voter records. (thehill.com)
- A Department of Homeland Security agent infiltrated Minneapolis anti-ICE Signal chats. (minnesotareformer.com)
Flock watch
Volusia County halts deployment of Flock license plate reader cameras (Daytona Beach News-Journal)
Columbia County installed 10 Flock Safety cameras without board approval (The Daily Gazette)
Henrico County dropped Flock Safety's automated license plate reader system (Fredericksburg.com)
Texas pauses funding for Flock license plate readers (San Antonio Express-News)
Richmond will not renew 99 license plate readers (VPM)
Surveillance & Privacy
- The Norwegian Data Protection Authority fined Microsoft's Xandr €8.5 million for Grindr tracking. (noyb.eu)
- The 11 ASEAN member nations work to link national digital identity systems. (biometricupdate.com)
- The Supreme Court declined Frank Thompson's Fourth Amendment challenge to GPS tracking. (Fox News)
- MEPs tabled more than 1,000 amendments to GDPR and ePrivacy rules. (noyb.eu)
Coming Up
Mon Oct 12 · VOTE · Plano — Plano City Council votes on whether to terminate or renew its contract with Flock Safety for license plate readers (WCSJ News)
Tue Oct 13 · DEADLINE · U.S. District Court — Judge Timothy Kelly intends to rule on request to block White House ban on reporters from CNN, MS NOW, and Politico (AP)
Tue Oct 13 · DEADLINE · Indonesia — Technology providers must register and express interest in Dukcapil's biometric digital ID remote enrollment EME (biometricupdate.com)
Tue Oct 13 · DEADLINE · U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia — U.S. District Judge Timothy J. Kelly issues decision on preliminary injunction regarding White House press pass revocations (Tennessee Lookout)
Tue Oct 13 · EXPIRES · Washington, DC — Temporary restraining order forcing the Trump administration to restore press passes to CNN, MS Now, and Politico expires (Idaho Capital Sun)
Tue Oct 13 · EXPIRES · Washington, DC — Temporary restraining order protecting White House press credentials expires (washingtontimes.com)
Speech & Press
- The DOJ investigates 5 networks over an antitrust pool boycott. (thehill.com)
- An Ohio jury convicted political blogger D.J. Byrnes of telecommunications harassment. (Gizmodo)
- An NYU student was charged with hate crimes for flying a protest flag. (Reason)
Useful
Street-Level Surveillance — 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.
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