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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Today's issue

Telangana police launch facial recognition

Thursday, October 29, 2026 · 23 stories · view as email

Top

Telangana police launched a facial recognition app backed by over 9.8 lakh photographs.(The Hans India)

The Hindu reported that Telangana Police deployed a mobile facial recognition app and a prisoner-release tracking system, expanding state surveillance tools used during criminal investigations.

Telangana Police Launch Facial Recognition App and Inmate Release Surveillance System (Indian Masterminds)

Telangana Police Roll Out Facial Search App and Jail Release Monitoring System (Daily Pioneer)

Penn State's student government voted unanimously for resolution #06-21 opposing over 20 Flock cameras; officials confirmed Oct. 14 they will be taken down(The Daily Collegian)

The Hotchkiss Board of Trustees voted unanimously to end its Flock Safety contracts.(WesternSlopeNow.com)

DDoSecrets published leaked records of over 40,000 DHS employees.(The Hill)

Pakistani police integrated drones into the Peshawar Safe City surveillance network.(Pakistan Observer)

Lawsuit: DOJ sues Maryland's Anne Arundel County Public Schools over policies restricting parental notice on student gender transitions under FERPA and PPRA(justice.gov)

The pattern

Personnel across three police departments misused Flock license plate readers to run unauthorized or personal searches.

Five Indianapolis police officers were charged with abusing Flock cameras to stalk partners.(Boing Boing)

Highland Heights police license plate searches fell 95 percent after dispatcher misconduct.(WKYC)

A Newark police officer searched a single license plate over 1,000 times.(The Columbus Dispatch)

Under the radar

San Marcos approved an Axon contract extension despite digital evidence privacy questions.(KXAN.com)

A Florida deputy was fired for storing surveillance images of naked jail inmates.(WFLA)

Flock watch

UNC System restricts campus license plate reader data(The Assembly NC)

North Liberty City Council votes to deactivate 12 cameras(The Gazette)

Richmond police wrongfully towed a car misidentified by Flock license plate readers.(WWBT)

Fredonia trustees vote to request Chautauqua County remove Flock cameras(Observer Today)

Alexandria, Virginia deactivates 61 license plate readers(The Alexandria Brief)

Surveillance & Privacy

A Project Syndicate commentary argues the administration shields ICE while expanding immigrant surveillance.(Project Syndicate)

Lawsuit: Twenty states and D.C. sued the Treasury Department over FinCEN rules exempting over 99.9% of companies from Corporate Transparency Act disclosures(news.bloomberglaw.com)

France's CNIL fined retailer Fnac Darty €7 million over mobile app trackers.(noyb.eu)

Sens. Ron Wyden and Edward Markey demand Meta address smart glasses bystander privacy.(404media.co)

Coming Up

Thu Oct 29

HearingCourt — Court considers final approval of $59.5 million Flo Health data privacy settlement (USA TODAY)

Fri Oct 30

DeadlineAlexandria, VA — Alexandria shuts down all 61 Flock license plate reader cameras (FOX 5 DC)

Fri Oct 30

DeadlineDutchess County, NY — Deadline for Flock Safety to remove its automated license plate reader equipment from Dutchess County (The Millerton News)

Fri Oct 30

DeadlineDutchess County, New York — Flock Group Inc. must remove all hardware under county demand notice (Mid Hudson News)

Fri Oct 30

DeadlineLubbock, TX — Petition deadline to submit 2,410 verified signatures to force City Council consideration of an ordinance banning Flock ALPR cameras (lubbocklights.com)

Fri Oct 30

Takes effectLead, SD — Ordinance banning automated license plate readers takes effect (NewsCenter1)

Full calendar and .ics feed →

Speech & Press

Distributed Denial of Secrets published searchable records for nearly 40,000 Homeland Security staff.(techdirt.com)

The Fourth Circuit struck down West Virginia's law banning publishing addresses of officials.(reason.com)

An Egyptian court fined Mada Masr editor Lina Attalah and ordered outlet closed.(cpj.org)

Useful

CourtListener and RECAP(courtlistener.com)

Free federal court dockets and opinions. Install the RECAP extension and every PACER document you open becomes free for the next person.

All the tools and guides →

Past issues

Wed, Oct 28

Flock Safety removed six license plate…

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

Thu, Oct 22

A New Mexico judge orders Meta…

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

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