Project Censored: Combating and Reframing Big Tech: Deflock & AI Resist

Our Take

It says something about the state of American journalism that it takes a community radio show flagged by Project Censored to get serious airtime for the ALPR surveillance story. Credit to KPFA Radio for sitting down with Ed from DeFlock and treating automatic license plate readers as the systemic issue they are, not just a local crime-blotter footnote. Flock Safety cameras have spread into thousands of neighborhoods with little public debate, and mainstream coverage has been thin at best.

What makes DeFlock's work worth amplifying is that it's not theoretical. Volunteers are physically documenting where these cameras sit, who's paying for them, and how the data gets shared between police departments, private HOAs, and sometimes federal agencies. That's the kind of ground-truth reporting that lets ordinary people see the surveillance dragnet forming around their own commute, rather than just trusting a company's marketing copy about 'solving crime.'

This segment being framed as 'combating and reframing Big Tech' is the right lens. ALPR networks aren't a quirky local policing tool anymore — they're a privatized, nationwide tracking system with almost no federal guardrails. If you want to see what's been logged near you, check our camera map, and if you're ready to push back on a camera going up in your town, our take-action page has concrete steps.