Protect yourself with this bag and accessories
The short version: A privacy-gear review on Faraday bags reminds us that signal-blocking tech protects phones, not license plates—ALPR cameras need a different kind of resistance.
Our Take
This video, from the YouTube channel Digital ID, Mass Surveillance and Digital Currency, walks through a Faraday bag and related accessories meant to shield phones and RFID-chipped cards from remote tracking and signal interception. It's a useful primer on one slice of the surveillance problem: the gear that keeps your devices from broadcasting your location to anyone listening.
But here's the catch that gets missed in most "personal privacy kit" content: a Faraday bag does nothing for the automated license plate reader bolted to a pole at the end of your street. Flock Safety and similar camera networks don't need your phone's signal — they photograph your plate, timestamp it, and log your vehicle's movements into a searchable database shared across agencies and, increasingly, private hands. No amount of shielding in your pocket stops that. Blocking your phone's signal while a camera logs your plate every time you drive to work is like locking your front door and leaving the windows wide open.
Credit to the creator for keeping personal-privacy habits in the conversation — that stuff matters. But the bigger fight is structural: knowing where these cameras are, demanding transparency on data retention and sharing, and pushing back at the city-council level. Check our camera map to see what's tracking you on your own streets, and hit take action if you want to do something about it beyond buying a bag.
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.