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

Hong Kong Police will add AI facial…

Friday, November 6, 2026 · 26 stories · view as email

Top

Hong Kong Police will add AI facial recognition to the CCTV network.(The Standard (HK))

Hong Kong Police announced they will integrate AI facial recognition into the city's CCTV network to track suspects, stating that searches will require an inspector's approval and data will be kept up to 180 days.

Hong Kong Police Plan AI Facial Recognition Integration With Shopping Mall Cameras (Hong Kong Free Press HKFP)

Hong Kong Police Deploy AI Facial Recognition Across City CCTV Network (Dimsum Daily)

At least 10 local governments moved to curb or drop Flock Safety cameras.(TechCrunch)

University at Buffalo paused testing Flock license-plate readers after police employee suspensions.(Buffalo News)

Avon and Somerset Police will deploy live facial recognition in Bath.(West Somerset Free Press)

Milford's Board of Alders unanimously required approval for surveillance expansions.(NBC Connecticut)

U.K. police detained activist Bernie Spofforth for 36 hours over an X post.(Reason)

The pattern

Three officers faced charges or indictments for allegedly misusing automated license-plate reader systems.

Prosecutors drop charges against a deputy over 381 unauthorized license-plate searches.(WFLA)

A former deputy faces charges for allegedly running over 100 searches on his wife.(Spectrum News Bay News 9)

A former detective was indicted for allegedly misusing an automated license plate reader system.(WCIV)

North Carolina detective was indicted for allegedly misusing Flock cameras and police databases.(CBS17.com)

The pattern

Three police departments launched or proposed drone-as-first-responder programs to stream live video of 911 calls.

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

Howard County police will deploy rooftop docking stations to stream live drone video.(WBAL-TV)

Oakland police propose stationing six rooftop drones to stream live video.(The Oaklandside)

Under the radar

A former police employee was sentenced to probation after 2,000 database abuses.(stltoday.com)

Flock watch

Excelsior Springs, Mo. discloses bagged cameras still captured driver data(FOX4KC.com)

Haverhill cancels police contract with Flock Safety(WHAV)

New Bedford will not renew Flock Safety contract(New Bedford Guide)

Edgewood voted unanimously to remove four Flock Safety devices.(LINK nky)

League City voters reject Flock Safety license plate readers(Houston Public Media)

Surveillance & Privacy

Maryland bans surveillance grocery pricing for stores of at least 15,000 square feet.(JD Supra)

Retailers deploying virtual try-on tools face liability for mapping facial geometry without consent.(The Fresno Bee)

A class action alleges MAC scanned facial geometry without consent.(The Sacramento Bee)

Kent Police deployed live facial recognition technology in Chatham.(Kent Police)

Coming Up

Fri Nov 6

DeadlineWashington, D.C. — Administration faces deadline set by Senators Schiff and Wyden to identify officials responsible for delaying release of FISA Court opinion (Gold Rush Cam)

Fri Nov 6

DeadlineAkron, OH — Akron Police Department requested to provide high-priority Flock camera records to the independent police auditor (Signal Akron)

Fri Nov 6

DeadlineWashington, DC — Deadline for DNI Jay Clayton and AG Todd Blanche to respond to senators regarding the withheld FISC Section 702 surveillance ruling (NaturalNews.com)

Fri Nov 6

Takes effectSt. Louis, MO — St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department implements its first emergency response drones (Audacy)

Sat Nov 7

BallotNew Zealand — New Zealand holds a general election impacting social media age verification and ban proposals (biometricupdate.com)

Sat Nov 7

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

Full calendar and .ics feed →

Speech & Press

Advocacy groups sued to block Montana's ban on corporate and union election spending.(reason.com)

Delhi Police issued takedown requests targeting 42 URLs on X.(eff.org)

Google, Meta, and TikTok sued California over an autoplay ban for minors.(thehill.com)

Useful

Community Control Over Police Surveillance(aclu.org)

The ACLU's model ordinance that makes a city council vote in public before police buy surveillance tech. Two dozen cities have passed a version.

All the tools and guides →

Past issues

Thu, Nov 5

Edgewood votes to remove Flock devices

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

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