Link Resource Database

Links to reliable sources (news articles, research, and analysis) for informed opposition to dragnet mass surveillance.

This database focuses on facts and reporting rather than opinion or philosophy. The more reliable, the better. We're looking for things that can be presented to elected officials and other decision-makers as independent, reliable sources that they should take seriously.

Got one not listed here? Update or tagging suggestions? Email us.

From a mass surveillance company that wants to stuff this list full of propaganda? Go flock yourself!

7,914 Resource Links in 5,986 Entries

(Showing links 7,820 to 7,914.)

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🔗 City Council approves negotiating deal for Flock Safety cameras
Newark Advocate · 2022-11-28
NJ Newark Paywall
🔗 Security Cameras Make Us Feel Safe, but Are They Worth the Invasion?
The New York Times · 2022-11-02
Analysis Paywall
🔗 Kechi police lieutenant arrested for using police technology to stalk wife
KWCH 12 Wichita · 2022-10-30
KS Kechi Abuse
More coverage:
- 🔗 Kan. police officer admits to computer crime, stalking
  Salina Post
- 🔗 Press Release about Kechi Officer Sentencing
  Sedgwick County District Attorney
🔗 Newark council committee debates use of Flock Safety cameras
Newark Advocate · 2022-10-23
NJ Newark Paywall
🔗 'Mistakes were made,' says Charlotte manager about teacher wrongfully detained
The Charlotte Observer · 2022-10-11
NC Charlotte Oops
More coverage:
- 🔗 Two years after her wrongful detention, a Charlotte woman is finding peace abroad
  WCNC NBC 36 Charlotte
🔗 Automated License Plate Readers Threaten Abortion Access. Here's How Policymakers Can Mitigate the Risk
EFF · 2022-09-28
Analysis EFF Reproductive Rights
🔗 Concord council approves 65 license plate-reading cameras for police department to oversee
Bay City News · 2022-08-25
CA Concord Expansion
🔗 More than 300 new automatic license plate reader cameras are coming to Houston
KHOU CBS 11 Houston · 2022-08-17
TX Houston Video
🔗 System and Method for Object Based Query of Video Content Captured by a Dynamic Surveillance Network
US Patent Office via Google · 2022-08-16
Patent Scope Creep Technology
🔗 Community Activists Reach Settlement With Marin County Sheriff for Unlawfully Sharing Drivers' Locations with Out-Of-State and Federal Agencies
EFF · 2022-06-01
CA Marin County Lawsuit
🔗 Fast-Growing Company Flock is Building a New AI-Driven Mass-Surveillance System
ACLU · 2022-03-22
ACLU Analysis
🔗 Pearland OKs $191K for license-plate recognition cameras, crime-fighting tech
Houston Chronicle · 2022-02-24
TX Pearland
🔗 Automated License Plate Readers: State Statutes
NCSL · 2022-02-03
Legislation
Notes: A good (if outdated) list of state laws about license plate readers.
🔗 Police in San Diego County breaking the law sharing drivers' data
inewsource · 2022-01-06
CA San Diego County Illegal Oversharing
🔗 Former police officer who tracked estranged wife's car pleads guilty to stalking
WPXI NBC 11 Pittsburgh · 2021-12-15
PA Frazer Abuse
🔗 California Activists Sue Marin County Sheriff for Illegally Sharing Drivers' License Plate Data With ICE, CBP and Other Out-of-State Agencies
EFF · 2021-10-14
CA Marin County Lawsuit
🔗 Targeted
Tampa Bay Times · 2021-09-10
Cautionary Tale
"Pasco Sheriff Chris Nocco took over in 2011 and set out to transform the Sheriff's Office into a cutting-edge data-driven machine. The result is an intelligence operation that monitors, intimidates and harasses families across the county."
🔗 OIG Finds That ShotSpotter Alerts Rarely Lead to Evidence of a Gun-Related Crime and That Presence of the Technology Changes Police Behavior
City of Chicago Office of Inspector General · 2021-08-24
IL Chicago Analysis Audio Surveillance ShotSpotter
"Of the 50,176 confirmed, 41,830 report a disposition—the outcome of the police response to an incident. Of those dispositions, a total of 4,556 indicate that evidence of a gun-related criminal offense was found, representing 9.1% of CPD responses to ShotSpotter alerts."
🔗 'Shocking violation:' Lake County commissioners order takedown of secret surveillance cameras
WKMG-TV CBS 6 Orlando · 2021-08-12
FL Lake County Unauthorized
🔗 The effect of public surveillance cameras on crime clearance rates
Journal of Experimental Criminology · 2021-06-30
Paywall Research
"We find that cases closer to cameras did have an increased clearance rate after the cameras were installed. But the effects faded quite quickly in space and were mostly limited to thefts. While our estimates here suggest the cameras are likely not cost-effective in terms of increasing clearances, it suggests there is potential to be more targeted in camera placement that might provide better justification for their (limited) use."
🔗 Leaders of a Beautiful Struggle v. BPD, 2 F. 4th 330
Court of Appeals, 4th Circuit · 2021-06-24
Court Ruling Fourth Amendment
Notes: An en banc hearing by the 4th Circuit finding that prolonged aerial surveillance requires a warrant.
🔗 Flock Safety Falcon LPR Tested
IPVM Research · 2021-06-01
Analysis Paywall
🔗 Updated: Atlanta council approves Flock as camera vendor to combat crime
Fulton Neighbor · 2021-05-05
GA Atlanta
🔗 City to Increase Number of Cameras to Boost "Operation Shield" Network in Latest Effort to Bolster Public Safety
City of Atlanta · 2021-04-22
GA Atlanta Expansion
🔗 Data Driven 2: California Dragnet—New Data Set Shows Scale of Vehicle Surveillance in the Golden State
EFF · 2021-04-22
CA Analysis EFF
"In 2019 alone, just 82 agencies collected more than 1 billion license plate scans using ALPRs. Yet, 99.9% of this surveillance data was not actively related to an investigation when it was collected."
🔗 Data Driven: Explore How Cops Are Collecting and Sharing Our Travel Patterns Using Automated License Plate Readers
EFF · 2021-04-22
Analysis EFF
🔗 No charges for Aurora police officers who held children at gunpoint after erroneous traffic stop
The Denver Post · 2021-01-08
CO Denver Oops
More coverage:
- 🔗 Colorado Grandma Keeps Getting Pulled Over Because Police Cameras Cannot Tell the Difference Between a Zero and the Letter O
  Guessing Headlights
- 🔗 Colorado Grandma Keeps Getting Pulled Over Because Police Cameras Cannot Tell the Difference Between a Zero and the Letter O
  Guessing Headlights via Yahoo
🔗 Sheriff pays East Bay privacy advocate nearly $50K in license plate reader case
KTVU Fox 2 San Francisco · 2020-11-16
CA San Pablo Lawsuit Oops Settlement
"Brian Hofer, chair of Oakland's Privacy Advisory Commission, received $49,500 in an August payout from the sheriff's department"
🔗 Review of CBP's Major Cybersecurity Incident during a 2019 Biometric Pilot
US Office of the Inspector General · 2020-09-21
Cautionary Tale
🔗 Things to Know Before Your Neighborhood Installs an Automated License Plate Reader
EFF · 2020-09-14
Analysis EFF Technology
🔗 Automatic License Plate Readers: Legal Status and Policy Recommendations for Law Enforcement Use
Brennan Center for Justice · 2020-09-10
Analysis
🔗 Aurora chief apologizes for armed officers who detained children during stolen vehicle mistake
KDVR Fox 31 Denver · 2020-08-03
CO Aurora Lawsuit Oops Settlement
"Wilson said the vehicle in which the girls were sitting had license plate information that matched a stolen vehicle from a different state, which caused confusion. 'The (License Plate Recognition) system reads the numbers and not the state,' said Wilson."

More coverage:
- 🔗 City agrees $1.9m settlement with Black family held at gunpoint by police
  The Guardian
- 🔗 Cops Terrorize Black Family but Blame License Plate Reader for Misidentifying 'Stolen' Vehicle
  Gizmodo
🔗 COMMONWEALTH vs. JASON J. McCARTHY
Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court via EFF · 2020-04-16
MA Analysis Court Ruling Fourth Amendment
Notes: Good review of mosaic theory and concerns about aggregated use. Did not find a warrant was necessary when only four cameras were used for a limited period of time, but made clear that a large enough deployment (with the example of 1,000 cameras given) would.
🔗 Automated License Plate Readers: To Better Protect Individuals' Privacy, Law Enforcement Must Increase Its Safeguards for the Data It Collects
Auditor of the State of California · 2020-02-01
CA Analysis
🔗 EFF Calls on California to End Vendor-Driven ALPR Training
EFF · 2019-08-19
CA EFF
🔗 The Impact of License Plate Readers on Violent Crime in Tigerland, LSU: A Geospatial Case Study
LSU Department of Sociology · 2019-08-01
Analysis
"It cannot be argued that LPRs do not provide the police with a useful tool in criminal investigations and arrests; however, the findings from the current case study suggest that the installation of the LPR in Tigerland had no statistical effect on violent crime. As such, it does not seem that LPRs are a useful tool for crime deterrence."
🔗 The Newest Growth Market For License Plate Readers Is Those Assholes Running The Local Homeowners Association
Techdirt · 2019-07-26
HOA Usage
🔗 Denver-area neighborhoods are installing license plate readers to record every vehicle that passes by
The Denver Post · 2019-07-09
CO Denver HOA Usage
🔗 SC lawmaker wants restrictions on police using automatic license plate readers
The Post and Courier · 2019-06-03
SC Legislation
🔗 When License-Plate Surveillance Goes Horribly Wrong
The New York Times · 2019-04-23
CA Hercules Oops Paywall
🔗 Documents Reveal ICE Using Driver Location Data From Local Police for Deportations
ACLU · 2019-03-13
ACLU Analysis Immigration
🔗 Virginia Supreme Court Sees Through Police Claim That License Plate Data Isn't 'Personal'
ACLU · 2018-04-26
ACLU Analysis Fourth Amendment
🔗 How License Plate Covers Would Protect Vulnerable Communities
EFF · 2018-01-18
CA EFF
🔗 Carpenter v. United States
United States Supreme Court via Oyez · 2017-06-05
Court Ruling Fourth Amendment
Notes: Establishes that cellular service location information constitutes a search specifically because the aggregate records are so intrusive. This implies that surveillance can constitute a search under the Fourth amendment when done on a large scale or to a certain level of intrusiveness, when it is (or was previously) allowable at a smaller scale.
🔗 Gun-Show Customers' License Plates Come Under Scrutiny
Wall Street Journal · 2016-10-02
CA Del Mar Cautionary Tale Paywall
Notes: Discusses using ALPRs to identify and surveil the attendees of the Crossroads of the West gun show.

More coverage:
- 🔗 Mass Surveillance at Public Gatherings Is Why We Need Oversight Policies
  EFF
🔗 Use of Number Plate Scanning Devices Regulated.
General Court of New Hampshire · 2016-07-18
NH Legislation
Notes: New Hampshire law restricts data retention of automatically collected license plate data to three minutes.
🔗 Paradise Valley hides license-plate reading cameras in cactuses
The Arizona Republic · 2015-05-12
AZ Paradise Valley
🔗 Anti-abortion activists adopt a new tactic: tracking license plates
Houston Chronicle · 2014-08-13
TX Reproductive Rights
🔗 Another Bogus Hit From A License Plate Reader Results In Another Citizen Surrounded By Cops With Guns Out
Techdirt · 2014-05-23
CA San Francisco Lawsuit Oops
More coverage:
- 🔗 City set to approve wrongful arrest suit settlement
  San Francisco Examiner
🔗 License plate reader error leads to traffic stop at gunpoint, court case
Ars Technica · 2014-05-12
Cautionary Tale
🔗 Due to license plate reader error, cop approaches innocent man, weapon in hand
Ars Technica · 2014-04-23
KS Prarie Village Oops
More coverage:
- 🔗 Driver Finds Himself Surrounded By Cops With Guns Out After Automatic License Plate Reader Misreads His Plate
  Techdirt
🔗 United States v. Jones
United States Supreme Court via Oyez · 2012-01-23
Court Ruling
Notes: The Supreme Court ruled that GPS tracking individuals without a warrant violated Fourth Amendment rights.
🔗 Evaluating the Use of Public Surveillance Cameras for Crime Control and Prevention
Urban Institute Justice Policy Center via ResearchGate · 2011-09-01
Research
"The DiD revealed that there were no significant declines for the cluster of cameras due to the fact that crime in the comparison area also declined during the post-intervention period (see Appendix E for detailed findings). This suggests that factors other than public surveillance cameras were at play in reducing crime in the camera areas as well as places similar to them in terms of historical crime, demographics, and land use."
🔗 Kyllo v. United States
United States Supreme Court via Oyez · 2001-06-11
Court Ruling Fourth Amendment
Notes: The court ruled that the use of a thermal imaging camera to surveil inside a home without a warrant was unconstitutional. This case is often cited, including by the court, as establishing the precedent that technology cannot be used to bypass Fourth Amendment protections.
🔗 Katz v. United States
United States Supreme Court via Oyez · 1967-12-18
Court Ruling Fourth Amendment
Notes: The Supreme Court established that a "reasonable expectation of privacy" can exist in public spaces.
🔗 Camara v. Municipal Court of the City and County of San Francisco
United States Supreme Court via Oyez · 1967-06-05
Court Ruling Fourth Amendment
"The basic purpose of this Amendment, as recognized in countless decisions of this Court, is to safeguard the privacy and security of individuals against arbitrary invasions by governmental officials. The Fourth Amendment thus gives concrete expression to a right of the people which 'is basic to a free society.'"

Notes: This case has been cited in later cases (like Carpenter) to support applying the Fourth Amendment to warrantless surveillance.
🔗 United States v. Di Re
United States Supreme Court via Justia · 1948-01-05
Court Ruling Fourth Amendment
"We meet in this case, as in many, the appeal to necessity. It is said that, if such arrests and searches cannot be made, law enforcement will be more difficult and uncertain. But the forefathers, after consulting the lessons of history, designed our Constitution to place obstacles in the way of a too permeating police surveillance, which they seemed to think was a greater danger to a free people than the escape of some criminals from punishment."

Notes: This case has been cited in later cases (like Carpenter) to support applying the Fourth Amendment to warrantless surveillance.
🔗 Deflock Lynnwood
Deflock Lynnwood
WA Lynnwood Activism
🔗 Friendly City Drives Free
Friendly City Drives Free
KY Scottsville Activism
🔗 Your City Is Watching. Are You Watching Back?
Washington Surveillance Watch
WA Activism
🔗 EyesOffCR.org - Informing Cedar Rapids
Eyes Off Cedar Rapids
IA Cedar Rapids Activism
🔗 No ALPRs
NoALPRS.org
TX Austin Activism
🔗 You're Being Tracked
Live Free AZ
AZ Activism
🔗 A map of Flock's surveillance network
deflock.me
Analysis Real-Time Technology
Notes: Searchable database of Flock camera locations in the US. The operator of this site has been branded a "terrorist" by the CEO of Flock.
🔗 Eyes on Flock
Eyes on Flock
Analysis Real-Time Technology
Notes: Captures data from Flock's "transparency portals" in real time.
🔗 Flock license plate readers
Consumer Rights Wiki
Technology
🔗 Eyes Off Massachusetts
Eyes Off MA
MA Activism Analysis
🔗 Get the Flock out of Greenville-Spartanburg
Eyes Off GSP
SC Greenville Spartanburg Activism
🔗 Get the Flock out of Eugene
Eyes off Eugene
OR Eugene Activism
🔗 alpr.watch
alpr.watch
Activism Real-Time
Notes: Keep up on municipal meetings about this technology in your area!
🔗 Ban the Cams!
Ban the Cams!
Activism
🔗 Street Level Surveillance: Automated License Plate Readers
EFF
Analysis EFF
🔗 Get the Flock Out
Get the Flock Out
CA Santa Cruz County Activism
🔗 ALPR Analysis
ALPR Analysis
Analysis
Notes: Shows, by county, how many residential homes pass ALPR cameras on their way to their nearest essential services.
🔗 DeFlock Birmingham
DeFlock Birmingham
AL Birmingham Activism
🔗 Deflock Tucson
Deflock Tucson
AZ Tucson Activism
🔗 Eyes Off Colorado
Eyes Off Colorado
CO Activism
🔗 Data Driven: What Is ALPR?
EFF
Analysis EFF
🔗 unFlock Scottsdale
unFlock Scottsdale
AZ Scottsdale Activism
🔗 Have I been flocked?
Have I been flocked?
Activism
Notes: Allows searching records obtained via FOIA requests.
🔗 FlockHopper
FlockHopper
Activism
Notes: Helps you plan routes that avoid Flock cameras.
🔗 Flock Out
Fight for the Future
Activism
🔗 The Plate Privacy Project
Institute for Justice
Activism
🔗 Deflock Waltham
Deflock Waltham
MA Waltham Activism
🔗 Stop Flock
Stop Flock
Activism
🔗 Transparency Portals
footnote4a
Analysis
"A list of Flock Transparency portals"