ESP32 for Privacy: Detect Surveillance Systems #shorts

Our Take

There's something fitting about fighting a surveillance dragnet with a $5 microcontroller. STS Technologies LLC's short clip for their FlockYou device taps into a growing DIY counter-surveillance scene: cheap, hackable hardware aimed at giving ordinary people a way to detect the automated license plate readers and camera networks popping up on utility poles across the country. We can't vouch for the technical specifics of what the device actually detects or how reliably it does it, but the instinct behind it is the right one — if Flock Safety and local police departments won't tell you where the cameras are, maybe your own tech stack should.

This matters because ALPR expansion has outpaced public awareness by a mile. Most drivers have no idea their plate, location, and travel patterns are being logged every time they pass one of these cameras, often with no warrant, no court oversight, and data shared across jurisdictions. Tools like this — whatever their limitations — are part of a broader pushback: people building their own ways to see the surveillance state instead of waiting for it to be disclosed to them.

Credit to STS Technologies LLC for pushing the conversation into hardware territory instead of just talk. If you want a more immediate way to see what's already watching your street, check our camera map, and if you're ready to push back on ALPR deployment in your town, our take-action page is a good place to start.