S7, E277 - He Used a Police Camera Network to Track His Girlfriend 180 Times

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Flock Safety's automated license plate readers are in over 5,000 communities and used by more than 40,000 cameras nationwide — sold to cities as a tool to catch car thieves and find missing people. But a Washington Post investigation found at least 50 officers accused of misusing the system, most of them to track romantic partners.

This episode covers:

• The scale of Flock's network and how warrantless searches are legally justified
• Individual abuse cases in Wichita, Milwaukee, and New Bedford
• The Texas sheriff's office case tied to reproductive-related searches
• 404 Media's reporting on ICE's informal access to Flock data despite no official contract
• Flock's "Freeform" search feature and the race/ethnicity flagging controversy
• CEO Garrett Langley's August 13 apology and the new audit reforms
• The historical parallel: NSA's "LOVEINT" scandal from the Snowden leaks
• What's actually working: 39+ contracts canceled by cities in 2026
• 3 concrete steps if your town has these cameras

flock safety, flock cameras, license plate reader, ALPR, police surveillance, data privacy, police stalking, automated license plate reader, mass surveillance, privacy please podcast, cybersecurity, ICE surveillance, police misconduct, LOVEINT

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