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

Edgewood votes to remove Flock devices

Thursday, November 5, 2026 · 21 stories · view as email

Top

Edgewood council voted unanimously to eliminate police use of Flock license plate readers.(LINK nky)

LINK nky reports Edgewood, Kentucky, council members voted unanimously to permanently eliminate police use of Flock license plate readers. Council Member Jeff Schreiver cited constitutional objections to the automated surveillance technology.

Edgewood, Kentucky Votes to Remove Flock License Plate Reader Cameras (FOX19 | Cincinnati)

Kentucky City Council Votes to Permanently Remove Flock License Plate Readers (WKRC)

League City voters rejected Flock Safety license plate readers 54% to 46%.(Houston Public Media)

UK Home Office outlines live facial recognition deployment for civil immigration offenses.(The Guardian)

Police deployed a live facial recognition van in Southampton to scan crowds.(Daily Echo)

St. Louis police launched a drone first-responder program storing footage up to 30 days.(KMOV)

Seven Indian airports launch Digi Yatra facial biometrics trials for international passengers.(biometricupdate.com)

The pattern

Four officers were accused, charged or indicted for misusing license plate reader data.

New Bedford police will not renew their Flock contract after officers allegedly misused cameras.(New Bedford Guide)

Former detective Jayne Louise Holland was indicted, accused of using plate readers to stalk.(mydailyrecord.com)

Lake County charged an officer for attaching unauthorized database searches to fake theft reports.(Lake and McHenry County Scanner)

Flock watch

Anderson County, S.C. banned Flock license plate readers on county property(WSPA 7News)

York, Maine approved a ban on Flock license plate readers(WGME)

York, Maine banned automated license plate readers(reason.com)

Toledo City Council rejected an ordinance to cancel its Flock Safety contract.(WTVG)

San Francisco federal court sue Axon over undisclosed plate data(The Verge)

Surveillance & Privacy

UK policing minister Sarah Jones promised legislation to set safeguards on facial recognition.(biometricupdate.com)

Judge Marilyn Huff rejected a Sony bid to force smart TV tracking suit into arbitration.(courthousenews.com)

Protect Not Surveil coalition plans to launch an online tool exposing EU border surveillance.(accessnow.org)

States enact bans barring retailers from using consumer data for personalized surveillance pricing.(JD Supra)

Coming Up

Thu Nov 5

DeadlineTallahassee, FL — CAIR-FL faces forced closure under Florida domestic terrorist designation unless court intervenes (Southern Poverty Law Center)

Thu Nov 5

Takes effectTallahassee, Florida — Florida domestic terrorist organization designation against CAIR and CAIR-Florida takes effect (Southern Poverty Law Center)

Thu Nov 5

Takes effectFL — Florida domestic terrorist organization designations for CAIR, the Muslim Brotherhood, and antifa take effect (WFLA)

Thu Nov 5

Takes effectIpswich, UK — Suffolk Constabulary deploys live facial recognition technology in Ipswich town centre (Bury Mercury)

Thu Nov 5

HearingIpswich, UK — Suffolk Police deploys live facial recognition cameras in Ipswich (Bury Mercury)

Thu Nov 5

MeetingBuncombe County, NC — Buncombe County Board of Commissioners hears Sheriff's Office presentation on Axon Fusus contract and camera project (Asheville Citizen-Times)

Full calendar and .ics feed →

Speech & Press

WP Engine ordered the Human Rights Foundation to geo-block its site in Russia.(reason.com)

A New Mexico judge ordered Meta to pay $25 billion under consumer protection law.(Cato Institute)

Mackinac Center sues Michigan officials in federal court over Proposal 2.(FOX 2 Detroit)

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, Nov 4

Southampton police deploy facial recognition

Tue, Nov 3

Two Rivers cancels Flock Safety contract

Mon, Nov 2

UK police deployed live facial recognition

Fri, Oct 30

Twenty-six Maryland law enforcement…

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…

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