This July 4th setting is exposing millions #cybersecurity

Our Take

Mading Thok's rundown of settings to check before you head out for the Fourth is solid, practical stuff — the kind of device hygiene most people skip until something goes wrong. Location permissions, app tracking, Bluetooth visibility: these are real leaks, and it's worth watching the full checklist. Credit where it's due for making digital privacy approachable instead of preachy.

But here's what a phone settings menu can't fix: the automated license plate readers bolted to poles along the route to your cookout. Your Fourth of July road trip is getting logged by Flock Safety cameras and similar systems in thousands of towns, building a timestamped map of where you drove, when, and how often — no app permission required, no opt-out button to tap. That data sits in databases that local police, and sometimes federal agencies, can query well after the fireworks are done.

Phone privacy checklists matter, but they only cover half the battlefield. The other half is the hardware watching your car from above, which most Americans never consented to and can't easily disable. Check our camera map to see what's logging your plate near home, and hit take action if you want to push back on the systems a settings menu can't touch.