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SASSI South @sassisouth.bsky.social · 5h

Installing gunshot detection tech on or around schools is going to result in police shooting a student.

citizenportal.ai/articles/590...

Rocky Mount Police Partner With Flock Safety for Gunshot Detection Technology Deployment

Rocky Mount High will implement Flock Safety's gunshot detection system for enhanced security.

citizenportal.ai

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SASSI South @sassisouth.bsky.social · 7h

🔥 Good news out of Eugene, OR today regarding their use of Flock Safety ALPRs.

The City Council voted 8-0 to recommend to the City Manager that the city turns the cameras off. 🔥

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SASSI South @sassisouth.bsky.social · 1d

“As much as Flock tries to be good stewards of the powerful tech we sell, this shows it really is up to users to serve their communities in good faith. Selling to law-enforcement is tricky because we assume they will use our tech to do good and then just have to hope we're right.”

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SASSI South @sassisouth.bsky.social · 1d

Take note of the quotes from the Flock employee in this article:

“Even if Flock took a stance on permitted use-cases, a motivated user could simply lie about why they're performing a search. We can never 100% know how or why our tools are being used.”

404 Media @404media.co · 1d

NEW: Cops in Texas told 404 Media in May they used Flock to find a woman who self-administered an abortion out of concern for her safety.

Documents now show police were conducting a “death investigation” and discussed whether they could charge her with a crime: www.404media.co/police-said-...

Police Said They Surveilled Woman Who Had an Abortion for Her 'Safety.' Court Records Show They Considered Charging Her With a Crime

Court records show that the narrative Flock and a Texas Sheriff's Office has told the public isn't the whole story, and that police were conducting a 'death investigation' into the abortion.

www.404media.co

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Unicorn Riot @unicornriot.bsky.social · 4d

To learn more about "Tangles" social media monitoring software developed by the Israeli company Cobwebs (now owned by Nebraska based surveillance key player Penlink) check our 2024 report exposing many technical details:
unicornriot.ninja/2024/cobwebs...

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SASSI South @sassisouth.bsky.social · 6d

"Currently, you need a waiver from the FAA to fly a drone farther than you can see it."

"With Flock’s help, police departments can get waivers approved in just two weeks. The company’s private-sector customers generally have to wait 60 to 90 days."

www.technologyreview.com/2025/09/30/1...

The US may be heading toward a drone-filled future

The FAA is set to loosen rules to let people fly drones beyond their “line of sight."

www.technologyreview.com

SASSI South @sassisouth.bsky.social · 7d

Sorry, Henry County Emergency Management Agency.

SASSI South @sassisouth.bsky.social · 7d

Finally, for now, here's an agreement with the Henry County Sheriff's Office in Georgia.

More to come soon.

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SASSI South @sassisouth.bsky.social · 7d

Next, an agreement with the City of Kileen, TX.

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SASSI South @sassisouth.bsky.social · 7d

The products named here, Penlink's Tangles and Webloc, are used throughout the South by local, county, and state level police.

We plan on reporting on this more soon but here are some screenshots of invoices from around the South.

First, an agreement with the Cary (NC) Police Department.

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Tim Newman @tnewmsblues.bsky.social · 8d

If you want to know what’s really going on with AI, talk to data workers. I’m so grateful for all I’ve learned from the U.S. AI supply chain workers who talked to us about data work.

Check out a new report with @alphabetworkersunion.org & @cwaunion.bsky.social: cwa-union.org/ghost-worker...

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Nashville Banner @nashvillebanner.bsky.social · 12d

Body-worn and dashcam footage capture a conversation between a Tennessee State Trooper and ICE about a May immigration sting in Nashville, as the state refuses to release the names or faces of those involved.

✏️: @sarahgracetaylor.bsky.social

ICE, THP operation footage raises transparency issues - Nashville Banner

Newly released footage reveals how Tennessee Highway Patrol and ICE managed an immigration sting in Nashville, raising concerns about transparency.

nashvillebanner.com

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SASSI South @sassisouth.bsky.social · 14d

That being said, it's remarkable that the company does appear to offering transparency into how they train their customers to use their ALPR database to track migrants and for monitoring people seeking reproductive healthcare.

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SASSI South @sassisouth.bsky.social · 14d

As a marketing ploy, Flock Safety created "transparency portals" as a way for the company to assuage the concerns of residents challenging Flock by giving an appearance of transparency and partnership. Of course, no amount of transparency ensures that Flock's products aren't tools of violence.

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SASSI South @sassisouth.bsky.social · 14d

In the latest from Flock Safety, the audit logs available for download on the company's demo transparency portal include searches for "abortion" and "immigration."

Is the company showing potential customers how to do immigration and abortion searches?

transparency.flocksafety.com/flock-safety...

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SASSI South @sassisouth.bsky.social · 17d

"But the lawsuit against Norfolk sheds light on just how frequently drivers’ movements are recorded without a warrant for that information."

We must be clear about the harms of ALPRs. Warrants won't sufficiently limit how ALPRs significantly expand police power.

www.nbcnews.com/tech/securit...

Police cameras tracked one driver 526 times in four months, lawsuit says

Flock Safety says it has become “the largest public-private safety network” in the country.

www.nbcnews.com

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NightMar on Hicks Street, Part 4: The Rabbit’s Revenge @histoftech.bsky.social · 19d

“There's this huge push to ramp up for the expectation that AI is going to be the new tech boom, and hopefully, not the new tech bubble… And that's not necessarily a great way to build your economy.”

www.wmra.org/2025-09-17/d...

Data centers: boom or bust for Albemarle County?

Data centers need a lot of power, big buildings, and cooling systems in order to process the big needs of AI and cloud storage. Proponents of the facilities in Albemarle County say they will diversify...

www.wmra.org

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Haymarket Books @haymarketbooks.org · 20d

LIVE NOW!

Lessons in International Solidarity

Join internationalist organizers discussing the lessons contemporary international solidarity movements can learn from past struggles. Organized with @commjusticeexch.bsky.social

Stream here:

Lessons in International Solidarity

Join internationalist organizers discussing the lessons contemporary international solidarity movements can learn from past struggles against the Vietnam War and in support of Vietnamese…

www.youtube.com

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SASSI South @sassisouth.bsky.social · 22d

Comrades in Durham, Raleigh, and Chapel Hill, join us for a presentation on 10/4 at 3pm at the Burrow on the police surveillance apparatus in place in the Triangle. No background knowledge or experience necessary. Email us questions at [email protected].

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Death Panel @deathpanel.bsky.social · 23d

In our latest, @dreanyc123.bsky.social returns to discuss how healthcare workers can resist ICE and refuse to participate in criminalizing the people the care for, and the resources available from Beyond Do No Harm

www.patreon.com/posts/138979...

Beyond Do No Harm w/ Andrea Ritchie (09/15/25) | The Death Panel

www.patreon.com

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SASSI South @sassisouth.bsky.social · 23d

Good piece in terms of detailing how police use tech and data for violent purposes. The recommendation for stronger guardrails has proven to be insufficient time and time again.

The only way to prevent data from being used for violent purposes is to never collect the data in the first place.

Andrew Guthrie Ferguson @profferguson.bsky.social · 23d

Great piece. It’s not just NYPD.

Your Data Will Be Used Against You

They’re Watching You www.nytimes.com/interactive/...

Opinion | What You Need to Know About Police Surveillance

New tools allow law enforcement agencies to track us at an unimaginable scale.

www.nytimes.com

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SASSI South @sassisouth.bsky.social · 25d

First, people subjected to police power and state violence have never had access to privacy.

Second, surveillance is never safety.

www.usatoday.com/story/tech/2...

Would you trade privacy for safety? License plate cameras stir debate.

Flock Safety, creator of license plate readers, solves crimes and also stirs concerns about privacy.

www.usatoday.com

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SASSI South @sassisouth.bsky.social · 27d

The latest example of the revolving door of public officials and police who move to work for private surveillance companies.

"At Flock, he will lead public affairs for the eastern U.S., working with local governments that use the company’s technology."

signalcleveland.org/cleveland-ci...

Cleveland City Council Member Kerry McCormack resigning post

Cleveland City Council Member Kerry McCormack is leaving after a decade as a local elected official to work for Flock Safety.

signalcleveland.org

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SASSI South @sassisouth.bsky.social · 28d

"In 2009, Thiel wrote, 'I no longer believe that freedom and democracy are compatible.' In 2025, his coterie seems to be making a full-court effort to follow through on the implications of that observation."

truthout.org/articles/far...

Farage’s Visit to DC Underscores Alliance Between Far Right and Tech Titans

Silicon Valley is bankrolling the far right’s attacks on global democracy and getting anti-regulatory allies in return.

truthout.org

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Andrea Ritchie @dreanyc123.bsky.social · 29d

Well look at that.

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