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

Twenty-six Maryland law enforcement…

Friday, October 30, 2026 · 19 stories · view as email

Top

Twenty-six Maryland law enforcement agencies logged at least 4.8 billion license plate scans.(CNS Maryland)

Capital News Service reports Maryland police automated license-plate cameras captured 4.8 billion scans in 2025, storing drivers' travel times, locations, and routes in law enforcement databases.

ANALYSISMaryland Police License Plate Readers Logged 4.8 Billion Scans, Raising Data Privacy Questions (Maryland Daily Record)

Poughkeepsie Mayor Yvonne Flowers vetoes the council's decision to end Flock Safety contracts.(Mid Hudson News)

NYPD canceled plans for a $750,000 contract for vehicle-mounted cell-site simulators.(Hoodline)

General Motors will pay $220 million over claims it sold driver data.(theverge.com)

Ofcom says UK social media users may face passport ID checks.(bigbrotherwatch.org.uk)

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

Under the radar

San Marcos approved an Axon contract extension despite police data privacy pushback.(KXAN.com)

Flock watch

Wausau directs police to halt Flock camera use(La Crosse Tribune)

Alameda County approves 10-year deal for Flock drone stations(East Bay Times)

Newark officer searched single plate over 1,000 times(The Columbus Dispatch)

Penn State votes unanimously opposing over 20 Flock cameras(The Daily Collegian)

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

Surveillance & Privacy

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

Papillion Police unveiled a real-time crime center to view drone footage.(KMTV 3 News Now Omaha)

The Ninth Circuit weighed an appeal over police recording a patient's body.(courthousenews.com)

A commentary argues the Trump administration expands surveillance of immigrants and protesters.(Project Syndicate)

Coming Up

Fri Oct 30

DeadlineAlexandria, VA — Alexandria Police Department deactivates 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)

Fri Oct 30

Takes effectAlexandria, Virginia — The City of Alexandria will shut down all 61 of its Flock license plate reader cameras (FOX 5 DC)

Full calendar and .ics feed →

Speech & Press

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

Lindsay Clancy's defense opposed a Massachusetts gag order restricting attorney speech.(Cape Cod Times)

A judge orders the Jacksonville Sheriff's Office to release jail death surveillance video.(News4JAX)

Useful

California data broker registry(cppa.ca.gov)

Every broker that sells Californians' data has to register here. The list is public and works as a directory for everyone else too.

All the tools and guides →

Past issues

Thu, Oct 29

Telangana police launch facial recognition

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

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