01/14/2026
We're submitting this post to raise awareness about a scandal unfolding in the Land of the Free. It involves approximately 80,000 Al surveillance cameras being surreptitiously used by over 5,000 law enforcement departments across the USA.
Using .io, investigative journalist and privacy researcher with discovered numerous Flock Safety Falcon cameras with Automatic License Plate Reader (ALPR) capabilities whose video feeds were administratively accessible, sans authentication, on the public Internet.
His proof-of-concept video illustrates how dubious the company's claim is that they're merely identifying license plates. Easy it was for him to use the camera's pan-tilt-zoom (PTZ) capabilities to identify and track individual people, disclose sensitive information displayed on phone screens, and track routes of individual cars over extensive geographic distances and time intervals.
An American citizen took it upon themselves to request video footage from their own city's cameras, a request that was denied. They subsequently challenged their city's refusal in court and the presiding judge ruled the video footage is considered public information because the cameras are taxpayer funded.
As if the surveillance state couldn't get any worse, Amazon recently announced a partnership between and , which has the obvious potential for abuse and mass surveillance from public intersection to your front door, and everything in between.
Al-integrated consumer technologies like coupled with state and municipal governments surreptitiously adopting sets a dangerous precedent for a large scale, first-of-its-kind, Orwellian surveillance system that is quickly becoming a reality.
This is yet another reason why nonprofit organizations like us exist. Because unethical companies like not only disregard privacy and security, they also reject transparency and accountability. They shift the burden of "responsibility" onto researchers while endorsing irresponsible business practices.
Contact your municipal, county, state, and federal representatives and tell them you reject mass surveillance.