A handful of cities across the U.S. have ditched Flock’s automatic license plate reader (ALPR) cameras and immediately replaced them with equivalent systems from law enforcement contracting giant Axon, according to local media reports and government documents from around the country. Axon, for example, advertises AI-powered cameras that attach to ...
Category: 404 Media
Category Added in a WPeMatico Campaign
Scientists Designed a Virtual Alien Lifeform to Hunt for ExtraterrestrialsScientists Designed a Virtual Alien Lifeform to Hunt for Extraterrestrials
🌘 Subscribe to 404 Media to get The Abstract, our newsletter about the most exciting and mind-boggling science news and studies of the week. Scientists have designed a virtual model of an alien cell and dropped it onto a hypothetical exoplanet to see how it behaves, an approach that could ...
Apple’s ‘Private Relay’ Is Exposing Users’ Real IP AddressesApple’s ‘Private Relay’ Is Exposing Users’ Real IP Addresses
A series of issues in Apple’s web browser engine — the tech underlying all browsers on iOS — means that Apple’s iCloud Private Relay tool, which is supposed to hide a user’s IP address, in many cases doesn’t actually work. Instead, the issues mean a malicious attacker can set up ...
Podcast: This Man Might Go to Prison for Wiping His PhonePodcast: This Man Might Go to Prison for Wiping His Phone
We start this week with Joseph’s article about Samuel Tunick, the man charged with allegedly wiping his phone before DHS officials could search it. It’s a wild case with a lot to unpack. After the break, Jason tells us all about a TikTok Shop scheme powered by AI. In the ...
Cops Used Flock to Track a Man Across State Lines to Create Pretext to Search His Car for WeedCops Used Flock to Track a Man Across State Lines to Create Pretext to Search His Car for Weed
Police in Wisconsin used Flock to determine that a man “travels to Michigan frequently,” where marijuana is legal, then back to Wisconsin, where it is illegal. They then used his travel across state lines as tracked by Flock as part of the probable cause justification to search his car for ...
The SEC Bought Airline Data to Monitor Flights WorldwideThe SEC Bought Airline Data to Monitor Flights Worldwide
📄 This article was primarily reported using public records requests. We are making it available to all readers as a public service. FOIA reporting can be expensive, please consider subscribing to 404 Media to support this work. Or send us a one time donation via our tip jar here. The ...
‘DO NOT MENTION ALPR USAGE’: How Cops Are Trying to Hide Their Use of Flock‘DO NOT MENTION ALPR USAGE’: How Cops Are Trying to Hide Their Use of Flock
When cops use Flock to arrest someone in Wapello County, Iowa, they don’t want them to know. A usage policy for the automated license plate reader cameras in the county tells police, in no uncertain terms, to keep them a secret: “DO NOT MENTION ALPR USAGE TO THE OCCUPANTS OF ...
Microsoft Tells Engineers ‘Tokenmaxxing Is Not What We Are Optimizing For’Microsoft Tells Engineers ‘Tokenmaxxing Is Not What We Are Optimizing For’
Microsoft has introduced new limits to how much its engineers can spend on AI tools at work and told employees that maximizing AI use internally is not the company’s goal. This makes Microsoft one of the last major companies to rein in its employees’ expensive AI use. Scaling back maximalist ...
The SCREEN Act is a Christian Nationalist NightmareThe SCREEN Act is a Christian Nationalist Nightmare
On Wednesday morning, Ted Cruz’s Senate Commerce Committee will convene on five bills aimed at age verification and “child safety.” The bills each have their own issues when it comes to privacy, data collection, parental rights, and free speech. But one bill, the partisan Republican SCREEN Act, is a Christian ...
Why a Flock Worker Quit: ‘They Lied’Why a Flock Worker Quit: ‘They Lied’
This is an adaption of a podcast interview 404 Media recorded with Jonathan Paz, a former Flock employee who is now running running for Congress in Massachusetts’ 5th District. Check out the whole thing here on YouTube. Jonathan Paz was initially nervous when he started working at the surveillance company ...