Delete these Apps as they harvest data
The short version: A mass-surveillance channel's app-deletion warning is a reminder that phone data harvesting and ALPR networks feed the same surveillance pipeline.
Our Take
The channel Digital ID, Mass Surveillance and Digital Currency put out another entry in its long-running effort to flag how ordinary apps quietly harvest personal data. We don't have details on which specific apps this video names, but the broader point lines up with what we track every day: your location, movements, and habits are a commodity, and plenty of companies and agencies are buying.
That's exactly why ALPR networks like Flock Safety matter. Phone apps that sell location data and license plate cameras that log every car passing a given block are two halves of the same surveillance economy. One tracks you through your pocket, the other tracks your car on public roads, and increasingly the data from both ends up in the same fusion centers and law enforcement databases, often with little oversight and even less public consent. Deleting a sketchy app is a fine first step, but it doesn't get you out of range of a camera bolted to a pole at the end of your street.
Credit to the creator for keeping pressure on an underreported corner of the surveillance conversation. If you want to see how this plays out in physical space, check our camera map to find ALPRs near you, and visit our take-action page for ways to push back on local deployments.
This is DeFlock The USA’s original commentary. The video above is the work of Digital ID, Mass Surveillance and Digital Currency, published on YouTube — full credit to the creator.