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San Diego Flock Cameras: A Committee Voted to End the Contract. Here's What You Can Still Demand
San Diego's council committee voted unanimously to end the city's Flock license plate reader contract, but a full council vote and a likely mayoral veto still stand in the way. Here's what happened and how any Californian can demand records on their own plate. Read more...
Streetlight License Plate Cameras: LA Committee Votes 3–2 Against the Pilot. Here's What You Can Request
A Los Angeles City Council committee voted 3–2 to oppose LAPD's pilot putting 30 license plate cameras on streetlights. Here is what the cameras record, what LAPD promised, and how California law lets you request the records. Read more...
A Judge Upheld the San José Flock Cameras. Here's What California Law Still Lets You Demand
A Santa Clara County judge dismissed the lawsuit against San José's nearly 500 Flock license plate readers. The courtroom door narrowed, but California's Public Records Act and ALPR policy rules still give you lawful ways to make the system answer to you. Read more...
Lynchburg Voted to End Its Flock Contract. Here's How to Ask If Police Searched Your Plate
Lynchburg's council voted to end its Flock contract and keep the cameras offline until April 2027. Here is how Virginia's FOIA and plate reader law help you ask whether your plate was searched. Read more...
Troy Voted to Limit Its Flock Cameras to 72 Hours of Data. Here's How to Ask If Police Searched Your Plate
Troy, New York passed a local law requiring Flock data to be deleted after 72 hours unless flagged, with sharing limited to court orders or the DA. Here is how to use FOIL to check whether your plate was searched. Read more...
Lansing Voted to Ask the City to End Its Flock Cameras. Here's How to Ask If Police Searched Your Plate
Lansing's council voted 7-1 for a nonbinding resolution asking the mayor and police to end the city's Flock contracts. Here is how to use Michigan FOIA to ask whether your plate was searched. Read more...
Oklahoma City Voted to Renew Its Flock Cameras. Here's How to Ask If Police Searched Your Plate
Oklahoma City renewed its 90-camera Flock contract 5-3 with a new seven-day retention promise. Here is how to use the Oklahoma Open Records Act to check whether your plate was searched. Read more...
Dallas Voted Against Cutting Its Flock Cameras. Here's How to Ask If Police Searched Your Plate
Dallas council members rejected a $1.5 million cut to Flock camera funding while a state freeze shut off 321 cameras. Here is how to use the Texas Public Information Act to ask whether your plate was searched. Read more...
San Francisco's Flock Audit Found Illegal Searches. Here's How to Ask If Police Searched Your Plate
An SFPD audit found 299 improper outside queries of San Francisco's Flock plate camera network in one year. Here is how to use the California Public Records Act to ask whether your plate was searched. Read more...
DIY Faraday Bag: How to Make One and Test It
You can make a working DIY Faraday bag or box from aluminum foil, a metal can or a tight metal container, as long as the device is fully enclosed with no gaps. Here's how to build each, how to test it, and where homemade shielding falls short. Read more...
Faraday Bag vs. Airplane Mode: What Each Actually Stops
Airplane mode is a software setting that turns off some radios but can leave Bluetooth and Wi-Fi on, while a Faraday bag physically blocks all of the phone's signals. Here's what each stops, when airplane mode isn't enough, and how offline-finding networks fit in. Read more...
Do Faraday Bags Work for Car Key Fobs? Relay Attacks Explained
Yes, a working Faraday pouch can stop relay attacks on keyless-entry cars by blocking the fob's signal, but some pouches fail or wear out. Here's how relay theft works, how to test a pouch on your own car, and other fixes. Read more...
Why Do Faraday Bags Stop Working? How to Test Yours at Home
Faraday bags usually stop working because the metal fabric cracks with folding and the closure stops sealing, leaving gaps. Here's how to test one at home with a call, Bluetooth/Wi-Fi and a key fob, and when to replace it. Read more...
Drones overhead: police and delivery drones, and what you can do
Will the Sky Start to Hum? Police and Delivery Drones: The Facts and Your Moves
More than 1,000 agencies now have waivers for drones that launch to 911 calls, and one delivery hub has asked for up to 1,000 flights a day. Here's what's real,... Read more...
Surveillance pricing: the price is different for you
The Price Is Different for You: What "Surveillance Pricing" Is, What's Been Caught, and What You Can Do
Some pricing tools can use your location, browsing and purchase history to decide what you pay. Here's what the FTC found, what's been caught, the new state laws, the other... Read more...
Arlington County Is Removing All 41 Flock Cameras. Here's How to Ask for Proof the Data Is Gone
Arlington County Is Removing All 41 Flock Cameras. Here's How to Ask for Proof the Data Is Gone
The Arlington County Board voted Sept. 15 to end its Flock program, remove 41 cameras and delete data not needed for active investigations. Virginia law says purged data must be... Read more...
El Paso Voted 8–0 to Remove Its Flock Cameras. What Happens to the Data Now?
El Paso Voted 8–0 to Remove Its Flock Cameras. What Happens to the Data Now?
El Paso City Council voted 8–0 on Sept. 15 to remove about 150 Flock cameras within 60 days after state funding was paused. Police haven't said publicly what happens to... Read more...
Pinal County Won't Renew Flock Cameras: What Residents Can Still Find Out
Pinal County Won't Renew Flock Cameras: What Residents Can Still Find Out
Pinal County Sheriff Ross Teeple declined to renew the county's Flock contract, citing Fourth Amendment concerns, and supervisors voted 4–1 to end Flock's right-of-way deal. Here's how residents can request... Read more...
St. Paul Drops Flock Cameras: How to Request Your Plate's Audit Trail Under Minnesota Law
St. Paul Drops Flock Cameras: How to Request Your Plate's Audit Trail Under Minnesota Law
St. Paul's council unanimously called for an end to Flock cameras on Aug. 26, and the mayor and police chief said the city's cameras are coming down. Minnesota law makes... Read more...
Asheville Just Ended Its Flock Contract. Here's How to Ask If Police Searched Your Plate
Asheville Just Ended Its Flock Contract. Here's How to Ask If Police Searched Your Plate
Asheville City Council voted 5–2 on Aug. 25 to terminate its Flock Safety contract covering 11 cameras. Here's what the city decided and how residents can use North Carolina's Public... Read more...
Digital Privacy Starter Kit: 10 Steps to Get Off the Grid This Weekend
New to privacy? These 10 concrete steps — from encrypted messaging to killing your ad profile — will meaningfully shrink your digital footprint in a weekend. Read more...
How to Stop Your Phone From Tracking You: A Step-by-Step Privacy Setup
Your phone is the most powerful tracking device you own. Follow these steps to shut down location tracking, ad IDs, and data leaks. Read more...
Your Rights When Filming Police and Surveillance in Public
You have the right to record police and public surveillance in the US. Know the rules, the limits, and how to protect your footage. Read more...
How to Find License Plate Readers Near You
Automated license plate readers are often hidden in plain sight. Learn how to map, identify, and document ALPRs in your area. Read more...
How to Opt Out of Facial Recognition: A Practical Guide
Facial recognition is spreading fast. Here are concrete steps to limit how your face is scanned, stored, and matched — online and in the real world. Read more...
What Is a Flock Camera? How to Spot Automated License Plate Readers
Flock Safety cameras (ALPRs) scan and log license plates across thousands of US neighborhoods. Here's how to recognize one and understand what it collects. Read more...
How to Tell If a Camera Is Watching You: A Field Guide to Spotting Surveillance
Learn how to spot hidden cameras, CCTV, and surveillance devices in public and private spaces — what to look for, where they hide, and how to protect your privacy. Read more...
Does Your City Have Flock Cameras? How to Check in 30 Minutes, and What to Do at the Next Council Meeting
Your city bought its plate cameras at a public meeting almost nobody attended. Here is how to find the contract, the ten questions to ask, and the four things to demand before renewal. Read more...
How to Find Out If Police Searched Your License Plate (With the Exact Letter to Send)
There is no nationwide lookup for plate camera searches. There is a real, legal process, and it takes one email. Here is the letter, where to send it, and what comes back. Read more...
Cities Cancel Flock Cameras: September's Wave of Votes and How to Push Your Own Council
In one September week, towns in North Dakota, Ohio, Minnesota and Virginia voted to cancel Flock cameras or shut them off, while Texas expanded and Missouri blocked public comment. Here's what happened, what the cameras collect, and the legal steps residents are using to push their councils. Read more...
How to File a Public-Records Request to Find Out If You're in a Camera Database
A step-by-step guide to filing public-records requests for license-plate reader logs, facial-recognition policies, and federal biometric records — what to ask for and what to realistically expect back. Read more...
What Is a Faraday Bag, and Do You Actually Need One?
A Faraday bag is a pouch lined with conductive metal fabric that blocks radio signals, so a phone, key fob or card inside can't send or receive. Here's how it works, what it does and doesn't stop, how to test one, and who actually needs one. Read more...
Illustration of a crowd where a facial recognition camera fails to identify one person wearing adversarial camouflage clothing
Does Anti-Facial-Recognition Clothing Actually Work?
An honest, mythbusting look at adversarial-pattern clothing and CV Dazzle — what the research actually says, what it can't do, and why it's one layer, not a shield. Read more...
Illustration of surveillance cameras scanning faces in a crowd of protesters
Surveillance at Protests: What Actually Happens to Your Phone and Your Face
Facial recognition and phone searches at protests are real in 2026. Here's what the law actually says, and how Faraday shielding and face coverings actually help. Read more...
Illustration of an employee at a desk being monitored by workplace surveillance software
Bossware: The Surveillance Boom Happening at Your Desk
Your badge swipe is now a performance metric. Read more...
Illustration of a shopper at a grocery store self-checkout kiosk with facial recognition scanning
Your Grocery Store Is Scanning Your Face
Smile, you're on loss-prevention camera. Read more...
Illustration of travelers walking through TSA facial recognition scanners at an airport checkpoint
TSA Wants Your Face at 350+ Airports. Here's How to Say No.
Say the words before your ID goes in the scanner. Read more...
Illustration of a data broker counting money after selling a person's location data to a shadowy buyer
The Data Brokers Selling Your Location to Anyone Who'll Pay
They know where you sleep. Literally. Read more...
Illustrated Ring camera and Flock Safety camera breaking up, with the Flock camera crying and the Ring camera leaving with a packed suitcase
Ring Killed Its Flock Deal. The Network It Fed Didn't Go Anywhere.
Ring folds. Flock doesn't. Read more...
Symbolic illustration of constitutional rights under threat from government overreach
When the Government Says the Quiet Part Out Loud: ICE, the Constitution, and an Administration That Isn't Hiding It
ICE and the President. Read more...
Illustration of Flock Safety license plate reader cameras monitoring a residential street
The Watching Eye on Every Corner: How Flock Cameras Are Quietly Redefining Privacy in America
Get Flocked! Read more...