UK Powerful transmitter mast 10 metres from a nursery

Our Take

This one comes from across the pond, but the pattern it documents will feel familiar to anyone tracking ALPR deployments here at home. The creator behind Digital ID, Mass Surveillance and Digital Currency flags a transmitter mast installed just ten meters from a nursery — infrastructure plunked down next to small children without the kind of community notice or consent process that a decision like that should require.

Swap "transmitter mast" for "Flock Safety camera" and the story is basically the same one we cover every week in the US: quiet installs, vague justifications, and local officials who never bothered to ask the people living (or in this case, learning) right next to the hardware whether they wanted it there. Whether it's a cell mast or an ALPR pole, the common thread is infrastructure creep — tech that expands its footprint into daycare parking lots, school pickup lines, and residential streets because nobody stopped to ask if it belonged there.

We're crediting the creator for digging into a story mainstream outlets won't touch, even if the specifics sit outside our usual ALPR beat. If you want to see what's actually been bolted up near schools and nurseries in your own neighborhood, check our camera map, and if you find something that shouldn't be there, our take-action guide walks you through pushing back at the local level.