Flock Safety’s cameras are automated license plate readers (ALPRs) designed to help police find stolen cars or wanted suspects.
A joint investigation by 404 Media and WIRED, based on data recovered from a physically removed Flock camera, found that its on-device software explicitly detects people as well as vehicles, bicycles, and license plates.
Separately, Washington DC’s police union says the Metropolitan Police Department used Flock data to track officers under Internal Affairs investigation without their knowledge.
Together, these reports illustrate a privacy problem: A network built to record the movements of vehicles can readily be used to follow almost anyone. The latest reporting adds an important technical detail to that debate.
Read more…
Source: MalwareBytes Labs
Sign up for the Cyber Security Review Newsletter
The latest cyber security news and insights delivered right to your inbox
Related:
- Eight things we learned from WhatsApp vs. NSO Group spyware lawsuit
May 30, 2025
On May 6, WhatsApp scored a major victory against NSO Group when a jury ordered the infamous spyware maker to pay more than $167 million in damages to the Meta-owned company. The ruling concluded a legal battle spanning more than five years, which started in October 2019 when WhatsApp accused NSO Group of hacking more than ...
- FBI probes effort to impersonate White House chief of staff Susie Wiles
May 29, 2025
One or more unknown people accessed White House chief of staff Susie Wiles’ personal cellphone and used her contacts file to reach out to other top officials and impersonate her, sources told CBS News Thursday. Some of the recipients realized the messages were suspicious because the texts and calls came from an unknown number, sources said, ...
- Victoria’s Secret pulls down website amid security incident
May 28, 2025
Clothing and lingerie retailer Victoria’s Secret suspended most of the functionality of its website and some in-store services to “address a security incident,” according to a statement posted to the company’s website on Wednesday. “We identified and are taking steps to address a security incident,” a Victoria’s Secret spokesperson told Reuters in an email on Wednesday. ...
- Senior US Officials Impersonated in Malicious Messaging Campaign
May 15, 2025
FBI is issuing this announcement to warn and provide mitigation tips to the public about an ongoing malicious text and voice messaging campaign. Since April 2025, malicious actors have impersonated senior US officials to target individuals, many of whom are current or former senior US federal or state government officials and their contacts. If you receive ...
- Steelmaker Nucor halts some production after cyber security incident
May 14, 2025
Steelmaker Nucor said on Wednesday it had halted certain production at various locations after identifying a cyber security incident that involved unauthorized third-party access to certain information technology systems it used. The Charlotte, North Carolina-based company said it is in the process of restarting the affected operations as it investigates the incident along with external cyber ...
- Israeli spyware firm NSO to pay Meta $168m. in damages for hijacking WhatsApp servers
May 7, 2025
A federal jury in California handed Israel’s NSO Group a $168 million penalty on Tuesday for hijacking the servers of WhatsApp in order to hack users of the Meta-owned chat platform on behalf of foreign spy agencies. The case caps a six-year battle between the American social media giant and the surveillance firm. It has also ...