Our good friends from @eff.org are going to join us at #DEFCON34 to talk about ALPRs. We will go into excruciating details about how all the governance and policies around ALPRs are designed to fail. bsky.app/profile/evac...

evacide@evacide.bsky.social · 39m ago

You cannot make mass surveillance "safe" or "good" by adding more guardrails. The only way to make Flock safe is to get rid of Flock. www.gpb.org/news/2026/08...

You cannot make mass surveillance "safe" or "good" by adding more guardrails. The only way to make Flock safe is to get rid of Flock. www.gpb.org/news/2026/08...

Analysis: More 'guardrails' needed to prevent police misuse of Flock cameras

Inappropriate use of Flock cameras by law enforcement officials have raised questions about how much surveillance is too much.

gpb.org

i’ll be at #defcon34 with @trevortimm.bsky.social this week Lessons from a decade of building whistleblower tech When: Friday, August 7th at 2:00pm Where: LVCC - L1 - Exhibit Hall West 3 - 906 (Main Track 3) defcon.org/html/defcon-...

Hey, so I’ll be at #DEFCON34 talking about the national fight against ALPRs with my @eff.org friends. (Friday 4pm @ Crypto / Privacy Village) But like, I need @404media.co to slow down its reporting, I’m trying to finalize our slide deck. bsky.app/profile/jaso...

Jason Koebler@jasonkoebler.bsky.social · yesterday

New: Police are being told to hide the fact that they're using Flock to pull people over and arrest them in both encounters with citizens but ALSO in their official police reports: www.404media.co/do-not-menti...

Surveillance companies are run by antisocial freaks who are happy to let cops stalk women because there is a dollar in it for them. www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2...

How rogue officers turned a nationwide camera network into a tool for stalking

Flock’s array of license-plate cameras was built to fight crime. But at least 50 law enforcement officers were charged with or accused of misusing it and other systems.

washingtonpost.com

Have you read the LPL 2026 Summer newsletter. It’s here and features events, updates about our fellowship cohort, and even a film and album recommendation! Please take a look canva.link/mf4dxd6q164i...

LPL Summer Newsletter

Check out this US Letter designed by Freddy Martinez.

canva.link

THIS SUNDAY: Join LPL @ Life on Marz with the Illinois Luddite Society to talk about the resurgence in Ludditism and the growing riff between labor, culture and society against "technical disruptions" which only bring negative impacts on the world. 1950 N Western on August 2nd at 5pm.

City Bureau @citybureau.bsky.social has a new rounds of fellowships open for people interested expanding access to information, particularly on the South and West side. Details here -> www.citybureau.org/fellowship-a...

Civic Information Fellowship — City Bureau

A paid, six-month program for Chicagoans to grow skills in community engagement, civic participation and journalism.

citybureau.org

THIS SUNDAY: Join LPL @ Life on Marz with the Illinois Luddite Society to talk about the resurgence in Ludditism and the growing riff between labor, culture and society against "technical disruptions" which only bring negative impacts on the world. 1950 N Western on August 2nd at 5pm.

Come hang out with us! LPL is having a summer meetup and chill session on the lake on Sunday July 26th. We’ll be on 43rd and the Lake with picnic style snacks and drinks. Bring yourselves, sunscreen, and a friend who might enjoy learning more about LPL!

If you're anything like me, it might not have registered in your brain that this event is *this* Sunday. See you there!

Lucy Parsons Labs@lucyparsonslabs.com · 2w ago

Come hang out with us! LPL is having a summer meetup and chill session on the lake on Sunday July 26th. We’ll be on 43rd and the Lake with picnic style snacks and drinks. Bring yourselves, sunscreen, and a friend who might enjoy learning more about LPL!

Come hang out with us! LPL is having a summer meetup and chill session on the lake on Sunday July 26th. We’ll be on 43rd and the Lake with picnic style snacks and drinks. Bring yourselves, sunscreen, and a friend who might enjoy learning more about LPL!

The LPL summer newsletter is here. Updates on organizing, summer events, and our 2026 fellows is all inside. Please check it out and hopefully you can make it to one of our events. canva.link/mf4dxd6q164i...

Today's episode of Democracy Now takes a look at the popular backlash against Flock and ALPRs. #deflock #alpr #surveillance www.democracynow.org/shows/2026/7...

Daily Show for July 21, 2026

A daily independent global news hour with Amy Goodman & Juan González. As the U.S. Commits War Crimes in Iran, Trump Admin Vows to Dismantle Int’l Criminal Court: Reed Brody; What Spain’s Victory Mean...

democracynow.org

Want to see a public collection of all the times cops have been busted abusing Flock systems to stalk exes, spy on protests, or deport migrants? You can check it out here 👇🏽👇🏽👇🏽 HT @deflock library.kansas.watch

The CEO of Fwock is weally, weally sowwy for calling anti Fwock activists “tewworists” www.forbes.com/sites/thomas...

Cops have used Flock's FreeForm search feature to look for people with tattoos and wearing specific sport shirts, and searches sometimes include the target's race, according to data reviewed by 404 Media.

How Cops Use Flock to Track People, Not Cars

Cops have used Flock's FreeForm search feature to look for people with tattoos and wearing specific sport shirts, and searches sometimes include the target's race, according to data reviewed by 404 Media.

404media.co

COMPUTER COPS: Inside the big business of selling AI to the police

COMPUTER COPS: Inside the big business of selling AI to the police

From data gathering to decision making, there’s a gold mine in police funding.

buff.ly

Blue Island, a suburb of Chicago with a huge Mexican population, is one police agency sharing immigration data with ICE. Via @eff.org www.eff.org/deeplinks/20...

Are Your Local Police Using Flock Safety ALPRs to Scan for Immigrants?

When a car passes an automated license plate reader (ALPR), its plate is captured and instantly compared against a list of vehicles that police are actively looking for or that police have identified ...

eff.org

Abolitionist organizers have been warning about this since the beginning: the issues with ALPR is not “privacy.” PDs are reacting to public anger about Flocks many abuses. Vendors (axon etc) are literally waiting with contract in hand to be the replacement w/ the same potentials for abuse.

Joey Scott@joeyneverjoe.bsky.social · 3w ago

I've been writing about Flock and ALPRs for a few years now, and the news that the LAPD let their Flock contract expire over “privacy issues” makes people think that the department will not use Flock in the future. They’re renegotiating their contract with the company.

By my nonscientific count, Lorenzo Salgado Araujo is at least the 30th person immigration agents have directly killed or participated in the death of since Trump retook the White House. That's on top of the at least 59 people who have died in Trump's concentration camps since then.

Matt Novak@paleofuture.bsky.social · 4w ago

ICE says agent shot and killed Houston driver, FBI investigating

Cops will swear up and down they only want drones for finding missing kids or whatever. When they talk among themselves and with tech vendors, they want to implement “Drone-first responders” with an eye towards a drone always being deployed first before a human.

Minnesota 50501 (@mn50501.bsky.social)

Stop spy drones coming to Minneapolis. Skydio surveillance drones (also used by the IDF) are AI-powered surveillance tools marketed as "public safety." If you don't want surveillance normalized in…

bsky.app

Stop spy drones coming to Minneapolis. Skydio surveillance drones (also used by the IDF) are AI-powered surveillance tools marketed as "public safety." If you don't want surveillance normalized in Minneapolis, show up! Wednesday, July 8 @ 1:30 PM 350 S 5th St, Room 380 Pack the room!

LPL is having a summer meetup and chill session on the lake on Sunday July 26th. We’ll be on 43rd and the Lake with picnic style snacks and drinks. Bring yourselves (properly sun-screened) and a friend who might enjoy learning more about LPLs work!

“He then put her license plate details on a surveillance “hotlist,” meaning he would get a notification in real time anytime she drove by an AI-powered license plate surveillance camera.”

404 Media@404media.co · last mo.

A Florida police officer met a woman on a TV set, surveilled her for weeks, stalked her, and nearly caused a head-on collision while chasing her to pull her over.

LPL is having a summer meetup and chill session on the lake on Sunday June 26th. We’ll be on 43rd and the Lake with picnic style snacks and drinks. Bring yourselves (properly sun-screened) and a friend who might enjoy learning more about LPLs work!

NEW BLOG FOR YOU Google's energy consumption numbers in their new climate report are mind-blowing. 2 years ago they flipped from linear to exponential growth, and their climate impact is blowing out, too. A WILD testament to the obscene bloat and waste of GenAI: ketanjoshi.co/2026/07/01/g...

BIG WIN. Today the IL Court of Appeals ruled in our favor making it easier for requesters to be awarded civil penalties in #FOIA cases. We've been fighting this case for *years* and got the decision today. Thank you to @loevy.com & Shelly for fighting for the public's right to information. 1/

Important ruling that makes it much harder for police to get location data. Unfortunately there is a big gaping loophole that we see cops increasingly using: they just buy their way around getting warrants as I wrote for @pogo.org www.pogo.org/analyses/pol...

Police Quietly Obtain Private Location Data with a Checkbook and not a Warrant

Law enforcement’s new location tracking tool raises unique Fourth Amendment concerns

pogo.org

Nora Benavidez@attorneynora.bsky.social · last mo.

In Chatrie, Kagan writes for majority: “[a]n individual has a reasonable expectation of privacy in records abt his cell phone’s location, & police intrude on that constitutionally protected interest when they demand the [info]—even though for only a limited time, & from a third-party tech company.”

Surprising nobody, after Chicago got rid of ShotSpotter, the response time to p1 calls (how the city codes active shootings) fell dramatically. The whole conceit of the company was that it helped improve response times ¯\_( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)_/¯ https://bit.ly/4aul6ki

CPD Officers Responded Faster to 911 Calls on South, West Sides After ShotSpotter Was Removed: UChicago Analysis

There is no evidence that Mayor Brandon Johnson’s decision to turn off the microphones that sent an alert to police officers every time the system picked up suspected gunfire slowed police response ti...

news.wttw.com