Hide & Speak X The Hated One - LIVE Saturday 4/11 @ 4pm ET

Our Take

Verified Privacy VPN is teaming up with The Hated One for a live conversation about digital sovereignty, tech monopolies, and the creeping normalization of persistent tracking. The Hated One has built a real reputation digging into surveillance tech and corporate data practices, so his presence lends some credibility to what is, at bottom, a sponsored stream for a VPN product. Worth watching for the broader framing, even if the specific recommendations lean toward 'buy our service.'

Here's the thing we'd add from the ALPR beat: VPNs are great for masking your internet traffic, but they do nothing for the cameras bolted to utility poles on your street corner that log your plate, location, and timestamp every time you drive past. The 'digital footprint' conversation too often stays confined to browsers and apps while ignoring the physical dragnet that Flock Safety and similar vendors have quietly built across thousands of U.S. towns — often without public votes or meaningful oversight. Digital sovereignty has to include the right to drive to a protest, a clinic, or a church without a private company building a permanent record of it.

If tonight's stream gets you thinking about reclaiming your privacy, don't stop at your router. Check our camera map to see what's already watching your neighborhood, and hit take action for concrete steps to push back on ALPR expansion where you live.