Crow's Nest
Thursday, October 15, 2026 · The digital civil-liberties brief · View on the web
ICE plans a $100M program to deploy 142 contractor analysts across 24 field areas. (Nikshep Myle / Gadget Review)
ANALYSIS ICE Expands Surveillance Initiative That Could Sweep Citizens Into Intelligence Files (International Business Times UK)
Top
- Federal HIDTA programs aggregate local Flock and Axon license plate reader data. (aclu.org)
- Cleveland school officials propose a $603,000 renewal of 201 Flock cameras. (Axios)
- Delhi Police tender for 338 facial recognition cameras around a designated protest site. (Internet Freedom Foundation (IFF))
- Supreme Court denies a Fourth Amendment challenge to mandatory boat GPS tracking. (KTAR.com)
- The ICO reprimanded London's Metropolitan Police for unlawfully uploading data on 179 people. (theregister.com)
The pattern
Officers in three jurisdictions were fired, indicted, or found to have violated the law by misusing Flock camera data.
- A Rhode Island town admitted an officer's Flock data sharing violated the law. (Smithfield Times)
- Savannah police fired Amber Harpe after her ICE agent husband used her Flock login. (WJCL)
- Ohio Rep. Karen Brownlee urges a pause on automated license plate readers. (WLWT)
Under the radar
- Nye County manager reinstates sheriff database access after 102 undocumented searches. (Las Vegas Review-Journal)
- Nevada ordered the Nye County Sheriff's Office to rewrite database policies. (Las Vegas Review-Journal)
Flock watch
- Henrico County terminates its Flock Safety contract and removes 122 cameras. (100percentfedup.com)
- Penn State is removing Flock Safety license plate readers from campus. (WPSU)
- Morro Bay voted 3-2 to extend its license-plate reader contract. (KSBY News)
- Florida exempts Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office from an order removing plate readers. (WPTV)
- Flock CEO Garrett Langley said the firm terminated zero police contracts over misuse. (TechCrunch)
Surveillance & Privacy
- An OCC review found banks systematically used policies restricting services to crypto. (Cointelegraph)
- Across the US, 25 states enact laws requiring IDs or face scans. (PC Magazine)
- UK Home Office rules allow Immigration Enforcement to run live facial recognition. (biometricupdate.com)
- Missouri sues Temu, alleging banned spyware code secretly harvests device data. (KCTV5)
Coming Up
Thu Oct 15 · MEETING · Auburn, NY — Auburn City Council meets to further discuss the Axon and Flock police camera contract (auburnpub.com)
Thu Oct 15 · MEETING · Harris County, TX — Harris County Commissioners Court discusses county Flock surveillance camera usage (Houston Chronicle)
Thu Oct 15 · MEETING · Harris County, TX — Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo holds a special meeting to examine Flock Safety camera surveillance and potential misuse (Houston Press)
Thu Oct 15 · MEETING · Providence, RI — Providence City Council discusses an amendment to prohibit automated license plate readers including Flock cameras (WPRI.com)
Thu Oct 15 · MEETING · Montrose, CO — Public discussion of license plate reader technology hosted by a private citizen (montrosepress.com)
Thu Oct 15 · MEETING · Samoa — Samoa Bureau of Statistics hosts an online information session on the procurement of the National Digital Identification Information System (biometricupdate.com)
Speech & Press
- Eleventh Circuit panel finds Florida's social-media ban for under-14s likely constitutional. (reason.com)
- Ninth Circuit blocks California from requiring ICE agents to wear visible badges. (thehill.com)
- DHS rejected a recommendation to require automated activation on 4,800 ICE body cameras. (sourcenm.com)
Useful
OpenOversight — A public database of police officers by department, so a badge number or a photo can be matched to a name.
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