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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A New Mexico judge orders Meta…

Thursday, October 22, 2026 · 21 stories · view as email

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A New Mexico judge orders Meta to pay $25 billion over privacy policies.(thehill.com)

The Hill reports a New Mexico state judge ordered Meta to pay $25 billion, following a jury finding that the company misled users regarding its content and privacy policies, according to state Attorney General Raúl Torrez.

New Mexico Judge Penalizes Meta $25 Billion for Data Privacy Violations (courthousenews.com)

ANALYSISNew Mexico Privacy Ruling Exposes Meta to Potential $25 Billion in Fines (therecord.media)

Poughkeepsie Common Council votes to cancel all Flock Safety contracts.(Mid Hudson News)

Appleton Common Council votes 11-1 to prohibit automatic license plate readers.(NBC26)

London Metropolitan Police will deploy live facial recognition vans for Chelsea-Tottenham match.(CNA)

Normal Police Department is piloting camera-equipped drones to fly to emergency calls.(WEEK | 25 News Now)

Sen. Mark Warner proposed a federal ban on surveillance pricing.(22 News WWLP)

The pattern

Three communities saw police launch, fund or expand drone-as-first-responder aerial surveillance programs.

Normal police launched a program deploying automated thermal-imaging drones for aerial surveillance.(CIProud.com)

Michigan awarded $200,000 to launch a drone-as-first-responder program for Battle Creek police.(WOODTV.com)

Upper Darby police deployed aerial drones for township patrol and surveillance.(ArcaMax)

Flock watch

Mill Valley suspended its six Flock license plate readers(Marin Independent Journal)

Greene County concealed terms of a Flock Safety deal(WRTV)

Sandoval County votes to ban unpermitted license plate readers(nm.news)

Proton republishes map of 300,000 Flock devices(Cybernews)

Boynton Beach moves to not renew Flock contracts(WPEC)

Surveillance & Privacy

Lawmakers in the 119th Congress introduce 49 federal data privacy proposals.(KPVI)

Connecticut requires employers to post written notice identifying electronic monitoring locations.(National Law Review)

Proposed federal bill would bar foreign-owned utilities from selling smart meter data.(JD Supra)

Delhi Police bought eight anti-riot vehicles equipped with AI surveillance cameras.(Biometric Update)

Coming Up

Thu Oct 22

DeadlineBangladesh — Securiport invited to submit proposal for nationwide biometric surveillance system at borders (biometricupdate.com)

Thu Oct 22

MeetingApex, NC — Apex councilman hosts an open public forum regarding automated license plate readers (ALPRs) (WRAL)

Thu Oct 22

MeetingReading, UK — Thames Valley Police deploys live facial recognition technology on Broad Street in Reading (Reading Chronicle)

Fri Oct 23

DeadlineLos Angeles, CA — Deadline for Los Angeles City Council to consider final approval of the streetlight license plate reader pilot program (Patch)

Fri Oct 23

VoteLos Angeles, CA — Los Angeles City Council considers final approval of streetlight license plate reader pilot program (Patch)

Sat Oct 24

MeetingCambridge, MA — Civic Assembly meets to review municipal surveillance technology including ShotSpotter and park surveillance cameras (WCVB)

Full calendar and .ics feed →

Speech & Press

FCC Chairman Brendan Carr threatens broadcaster licenses over disputed political polls.(freedom.press)

Australia prepares legal action against major platforms barring children under 16.(biometricupdate.com)

Florida Republican Party sued 12 TV stations to block a political ad.(pressfreedomtracker.us)

Useful

Atlas of Surveillance(atlasofsurveillance.org)

EFF's searchable record of which surveillance technologies each police department has bought, by city and agency.

All the tools and guides →

Past issues

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

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

Thu, Oct 15

ICE plans contractor analyst program

Wed, Oct 14

Missouri sues Temu, alleging spyware code

Tue, Oct 13

Davidson County votes to bag Flock cameras

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