Lead story / flock
Flock CEO Says Its Mics Only Detect Gunshots. Site Says More
Flock's CEO downplayed what its microphones capture, but the company's own marketing describes broader audio detection, fueling privacy advocates' concerns.
Tagged / surveillance
surveillance.
The Revision stories tagged surveillance — 72 stories on the wire, decoded into one clear voice.
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Policy
Flock CEO Says No Police Department Has Been Cut as a Customer
Amid reports of misuse, Flock's chief executive insists the surveillance firm has not dropped a single police agency as a client.
Policy
Georgia Man Sues Flock and Sheriff Over Plate Camera Tracking
A Georgia business owner claims Coweta County deputies and Flock's license plate camera network tracked him for months without any real case behind it.
Policy
ICE Reportedly Planning $100M Domestic Surveillance Program
A new report says ICE is planning a $100 million domestic surveillance effort informally called Nightmare, raising privacy concerns.
AI
VitVio's AI Cameras Head Into a Polish Operating Theatre
A London startup's camera system is going into a Gdańsk hospital's operating theatre while EU rules on workplace monitoring AI sit delayed until 2027.
Policy
Elgin Community College Tried to Fire Flock. Flock Said No
Elgin Community College asked Flock to remove its cameras over data sharing fears, but the company says its contract doesn't require it to comply.
Security
Surveillance firm Flock cuts jobs amid privacy backlash
Flock is cutting staff as privacy criticism mounts, and won't say whether CEO Garrett Langley is taking a pay cut too.
Policy
ICE Explored Using Deportation Tool to Hunt Voter Fraud
Emails show the agency considered feeding voter rolls into Palantir-supported software built to flag deportation targets.
Policy
Jury awards driver $76 after license plate reader stop
A federal jury in Texas found Bexar County's license plate reader program led to an unconstitutional stop, awarding the driver a symbolic $76.
Policy
Psiphon Threatens to Quit Canada Over Surveillance Bill
Psiphon, used by 18 million people, says it would relocate rather than comply with Bill C-22's expanded surveillance powers.
Policy
Lawmakers Target Flock With New Bills After 404 Media Reporting
Multiple lawmakers introduced bills to curb Flock Safety's surveillance cameras after 404 Media's reporting on the company.
Policy
Windscribe Plans Exit From Canada Over Bill C-2 Lawful Access
Windscribe says Canada's Bill C-2 would force it to log and hand over user data, so the Toronto VPN provider is preparing to relocate instead of comply.
Policy
San Francisco Sticks With Flock Cameras as Others Pull Back
While red states and cities ditch Flock's license plate cameras over privacy fears, San Francisco renewed its 400-camera network with only modest new limits.
Policy
Texas City Charges $2.3 Million for Flock Records Request
North Richland Hills, Texas, demanded $2.3 million for Flock records based on a 14-year labor estimate that doesn't add up.
Policy
Judge Rules Tulsa Deputy's Flock Camera Search Unconstitutional
A federal judge ruled a Tulsa deputy's warrantless Flock camera search unconstitutional, adding fuel to a national backlash against license-plate tracking.
Policy
Sanders Bill Would Ban Federal Use of Flock License Plate Cameras
Bernie Sanders new bill would bar federal agencies from using Flock's license plate cameras and cut funding to states and cities that keep using them.
Policy
DHS Stored Protester Photos in Palantir Database
Unsealed court filings show DHS agents tracked people observing ICE operations in Maine and stored their information in a Palantir-built database.
Policy
Flock's 911 Response Drones Spread as Privacy Pushback Grows
Cities are adopting rooftop drones that respond to 911 calls faster than officers, but many are rejecting the program over surveillance and data-sharing fears.
Policy
License Plate Data Feeds a Federal Surveillance Program
Automated license plate readers in US cities are quietly routed into HIDTA, a multi-agency federal program overseen by the White House drug policy office.
AI
Amazon Delivery Glasses Snap Thousands of Photos a Shift
Amazon's new delivery glasses capture nearly constant photos during a shift, and the company says it hasn't decided if customers can opt out.
AI
Dozens Protest Outside OpenAI DevDay Over AI Concerns
Protesters gathered outside OpenAI's DevDay this week, per PCMag, to oppose the company's AI work in surveillance and military use.
Policy
Flock's License Plate Cameras Falsely Flagged a Driver as Uninsured
A Flock Safety system told police a driver was uninsured when she wasn't, showing how automated enforcement pushes the cost of errors onto the misidentified.
Security
Flock Wants a Security Researcher's Camera Map Taken Down
A researcher exposed 335,701 Flock camera locations via an unauthenticated flaw, and now Flock wants his map taken down over trademark use.
Policy
Flock's CEO Skips Senate Hearing on His Own Surveillance Network
Flock's CEO skipped a Senate hearing on AI surveillance networks, even as senators singled out the company by name.
Security
Siemens patches critical flaw in surveillance control software
A file upload bug in Siemens Siveillance Control lets an attacker on the network gain root access to the surveillance server, and Siemens has issued a patch.
Policy
Flock Cuts Staff as Cities Drop License Plate Reader Contracts
Flock is offering employees voluntary buyouts as dozens of cities cancel contracts for its license plate reading cameras.
AI
New Method Calibrates Camera Networks Without Recording Video
A new calibration system lets multi-camera trackers align themselves using live metadata, not recorded video, dodging privacy and bandwidth limits.
AI
AI Tracking Framework Holds Onto Targets Through Long Occlusions
A detection-plus-prediction tracking system holds target identity through long occlusions, beating a rival on two benchmarks including a military dataset.
AI
Anthropic Details Claude Misuse in Spying and Weapons Work
Anthropic's latest threat report shows attackers tried using Claude for surveillance, weapons research, and propaganda before the company intervened.
AI
Anthropic Details Bioweapon and Drone Attempts on Claude
Anthropic's new report details Claude misuse for bioweapon research, drone engineering, and state surveillance, and argues AI now favors bad actors too.
Policy
Clearview AI Tests Tool to Build Full Online Profiles for Cops
Clearview AI is testing InquiryIQ, a prototype built on an xAI model, that would let police pull social accounts and associates from a single face match.
Policy
DHS Predictive Policing Unit Tracks Financial Habits for Stops
A DHS unit reportedly builds predictive profiles from Americans' financial data to flag drivers for police stops, according to a new report.
Policy
Massachusetts Orders State Police to Disclose Camera Locations
A Massachusetts judge ruled state police must disclose where their license plate readers are, ending a three-year ACLU lawsuit.
Policy
Wisconsin Police Used Flock Cameras 100 Times on One Driver
After a Navy veteran lawfully recorded a traffic stop, Wisconsin police ran his license plate through Flock's tracking network more than 100 times.
Policy
Florida Bans Flock License Plate Cameras on State Roads
Florida has banned Flock's license plate reader cameras from state roads, joining a growing wave of pushback against the technology.
Policy
ICE Signs $2M Contract for Zero-Click Phone Spyware
The agency has bought phone-hacking tools that require no tap, no link, and no mistake from the person being watched.
Policy
Florida Orders License Plate Readers Off State Highways
Florida ordered police to strip license plate readers from highway rights-of-way, joining a fast-spreading revolt against Flock and its rivals.
Policy
Florida Orders Flock Cameras Off Highways, Texas Cuts Funding
Florida banned Flock Safety's license plate cameras from highways and Texas froze funding for them, both in the same week.
Policy
Florida and Texas Push to Ban Flock License Plate Cameras
Florida and Texas are pushing to restrict Flock's 130,000-camera license plate network amid bipartisan privacy concerns.
Policy
Florida Orders License Plate Readers Off State Highways
Florida's DOT is revoking all license plate reader permits, citing misuse and privacy concerns, and giving operators 30 days to clear state highways.
Policy
Texas Cuts Flock Camera Funding Amid Bipartisan Backlash
Texas halted state funding for Flock's license plate cameras after a report found $30 million in grants funded them, as bipartisan backlash builds nationwide.
Policy
DHS Turns Obscure Summons Law on Journalists and Nonprofits
DHS is quietly using a rarely invoked summons power to gather records on journalists, non-profits, and unions, with little independent oversight.
Policy
Cities Are Ditching Flock Cameras at a Record Pace
Ninety cities and counties dropped Flock's camera network in August alone, a fourfold jump, as backlash over surveillance and cost keeps building.
Policy
Hawley Presses Flock Safety on Surveillance Camera Data
A Senate letter demands Flock explain data retention and wrongful arrest cases tied to its plate reading cameras, with answers due September 8.
Security
Slovakia Discovers Russian Backdoor In Traffic Speed Cameras
Slovak officials found a hidden backdoor in Russian-made traffic cameras, reviving worries about foreign hardware in critical infrastructure.
Security
Slovakia Pulls 279 Traffic Cameras Over Russian Backdoors
Slovakia deactivated 279 EU-funded speed cameras after finding SMS-triggered Russian backdoors and open access to live feeds.
Policy
Cop Who Criticized Flock Cameras Faced Five Internal Probes
After questioning his city's use of Flock surveillance cameras, a police officer faced five internal affairs investigations in less than two years.
Policy
Cities Are Pulling the Plug on Flock's License Plate Cameras
As Los Angeles and other cities cut ties with Flock's license plate readers, the fight over who controls that surveillance data is just getting started.
Policy
UK Shop Facial Recognition Will Alert Police in 4 Seconds
A system already running in over 100 UK stores is about to escalate from flagging shoppers to calling police automatically, in real time.
AI
AI Violence Detector Learns to Distrust Bad Audio
A new model called AViS-Mamba lets the visual stream actively reshape how audio is processed, rather than blindly fusing both signals together.
AI
A Leaner Model for Spotting Violence in Surveillance Video
FuseMamba-VD uses a dual-branch state-space architecture to detect violent acts in footage more efficiently than CNN or Transformer approaches.
Security
Russia Used Banned Cellebrite Tool to Crack Activist Phone
A forensics device supposedly off-limits to Russia was used to break into an activist's phone, raising questions about how well export controls actually work.
Security
Russia Used Cellebrite on an Activist iPhone After the Firm Left
A Citizen Lab report links forensic evidence and a Russian court document to Cellebrite tools used on a detained opposition politician's phone.
Security
Russia Used Cellebrite Tools After Being Cut Off
Security researchers found evidence Russian authorities used Cellebrite phone-cracking hardware against a political opponent despite the company's stated ban.
Policy
White House App Force-Installed on Federal Phones Won't Go Away
A White House app pushed to millions of government employees' work phones auto-reinstalls after deletion, alarming federal workers at multiple agencies.
Policy
Meta's Employee Surveillance Program Died After an Internal Leak
Meta quietly ran a program logging employee keystrokes and screen activity, then killed it after someone inside leaked details of the surveillance.
Policy
FISA Section 702 Expired. The Warrantless Surveillance Didn't.
The spying law lapsed at midnight, but an existing court certification keeps Section 702 collection running until March 2027.
Policy
Europe Eyes Rules for Smart Glasses and Their Hidden Cameras
EU regulators are considering whether existing surveillance law covers camera-equipped glasses that silently record bystanders in public.
Policy
Congress Lets Section 702 Wiretap Authority Expire
The House voted 218-198 against a short FISA extension, letting the warrantless surveillance program lapse while Congress debates what warrant rules to attach.
Startups
Coram AI Raises $35M to Turn Security Cameras Into Investigators
The San Francisco startup wants to layer AI onto cameras organizations already own, skipping the costly hardware rip-and-replace that usually comes with physical security upgrades.
Policy
Stockton Backs Flock Drones as First Responders
Stockton approved millions in Flock drones for first response, but residents say the city is building an aerial surveillance network dressed as public safety.
Policy
ICE Denies Tracking Protesters. A Letter Tells Congress More.
ICE says it has no protester database, but a letter to Congress offers a more detailed account of what the agency actually does.
Policy
World Cup 2026 Turns Stadiums Into Surveillance Labs
Face recognition and anti-drone systems are being deployed at 2026 World Cup venues across three countries with distinct privacy laws.
Policy
Russia's Answer to Its VPN Crackdown Is a State-Run VPN
Roskomnadzor wants to fix the developer access problem it created by proposing a VPN it fully controls - which rather misses the point of a VPN.
Policy
UK Gives Tech Firms Until September to Scan Kids' Devices
Keir Starmer's mandate to block explicit content on children's phones has privacy advocates warning the scanning infrastructure will outlast its stated purpose.
Policy
FCC Moves to End Anonymous Prepaid Phones With Mandatory IDs
A proposed FCC rule would require telecoms to verify every subscriber's identity, effectively ending anonymous prepaid phone service in the US.
Policy
SDSU Wired Student Dorms with 1,300 AI Cameras, No Disclosure
San Diego State installed hundreds of AI-enabled cameras in residential housing without telling the students who live there.
Security
The 2026 World Cup Is a Live Test for Mass Surveillance Tech
Robot dogs, net-shooting drones, and AI cameras are being deployed across 16 World Cup cities, and what gets built for the tournament rarely gets dismantled.
Security
CP Plus NVR Flaw Lets Attackers Hijack Admin Sessions
A stored cross-site scripting flaw in CP Plus 8-channel NVRs scores 8.4 and puts admin sessions at risk across critical facilities in four countries.
Policy
Disneyland Is Now Scanning Faces at the Gate
The theme park confirmed it deployed facial recognition at its California entry points, joining a growing list of venues experimenting with the controversial technology.
Security
OpenAI Bans China Linked Accounts Over Surveillance AI Use
OpenAI banned a network of China linked accounts that used its AI models to research and profile critics as part of surveillance planning.
Security
OpenAI Bans Accounts Using AI to Pitch Surveillance Tools
The company shut down likely China-based accounts that used its models to draft surveillance-tool pitches, analyze documents, and debug code.