This was a triumph of organizing. Over two City Council hearings, almost 60 people spoke up against ShotSpotter. Their testimonies capped off years of tireless advocacy from a broad coalition including The Black Response, Digital Fourth, SURJ Boston, Cambridge for Palestine, and Cambridge DSA.

update: they did

Cambridge City Council voted tonight to revoke authorization for ShotSpotter real-time audio monitoring of poorer areas for gunfire-like sounds. We started work on this issue in 2016, shortly after the microphones were installed; the amazing Saul Tannenbaum alerted us to the problem.

The Trump administration has been building a system to strip legal permanent residents of their green cards, and now they have a dedicated unit to start pulling the trigger. Internal data obtained by the New York Times shows this new DHS unit has already reviewed nearly 2,900 cases,

The Massachusetts Consumer Data Privacy Act is one of the strongest bills in any state legislature. Call your state rep. today to tell them you support real data privacy! warrantless.org/2026/02/supp...

[email protected] really saw an issue where 9% of Democrats felt FISA should be reauthorized, and 80% thought it should be reformed or repealed, and thought yeah that sounds about 50-50 let's not whip Dems now what harm can Trump really do with FISA powers demandprogress.org/wp-content/u...

what is the fucking point of an opposition party that acts like this

People have gotten defensive when I dare question #Democrats about the #unconstitutional and #fascist over-reach they naively legislate at local, state, and federal levels These are UNPRECEDENTED times We have expectations The tyrants don't pretend to be our allies You're acting like frenemies 🧵⏬

Well done @whipkclark.bsky.social this is making you look just great people are really picking up on the subtlety of the whole "this bill is garbage but we won't whip on it because the caucus is divided and Jim Himes is good people" approach bsky.app/profile/prem...

Kudos to Zack - this is an in-the-weeds but really important detail that’s gotten misunderstood or just been ignored by most of the news coverage (and Members of Congress!) on FISA 702

In a dramatic scene that unfolded in the wee hours this morning, members of the House defeated a ploy by the administration and Speaker Johnson to ram through a 5-year reauthorization of FISA Section 702. Here’s what happened, and what will/should happen next. 1/20

Here's the full takedown of Johnson's and House GOP leadership's fake warrant ploy, from @lizagoitein.bsky.social and @hannahajames.bsky.social at the @brennancenter.org. #FISA #Section702 #FakeWarrant #VoteNO @housedemocrats.bsky.social

As @wyden.senate.gov would tell you -- with experts at @brennancenter.org @cdt.org @demandprogress.bsky.social @pogo.org and @aclu.org -- Mike Johnson's "deal" actually broadens the use of 702 data for standard criminal cases, and does nothing to stop backdoor searches. It's a fake warrant. Vote NO.

Vote NO on Mike Johnson's fake warrant for FISA 702, @housedemocrats.bsky.social @hakeem-jeffries.bsky.social @aguilar.house.gov @usprogressives.bsky.social. As @raskin.house.gov & @repmcgovern.bsky.social said on the Floor, this midnight-hour nonsense adds no protections and makes 702 worse.

Conservative Ohio congressman Warren Davidson with an important op-ed in @thehill.com about the need to reform Section 702 if Congress reauthorizes it, and to close the loophole that lets law enforcement skirt your Fourth Amendment rights with cash. thehill.com/opinion/cong...

Thank you @masspirates.bsky.social for your help and publicity!

Join us to protest Rep. Katherine Clark's silence on President Trump's AI-driven warrantless surveillance of Americans, at her office in Malden on Wednesday at 4pm! warrantless.org/clark-protest/

Another story on abuse of mass #surveillance data! 😩 "in 'one month‘s time,' the sheriff queried his wife’s license plate number approximately 152 times. His stated purpose was to assess the system’s reliability before a contract decision." Ban ALPRs! 🚫 #deflock #alpr

⚠️ "Every city council gets the same pitch. 1. Only your agency controls your data 2. Federal agencies do not have direct access 3. Nobody from Flock is accessing your footage None survive the paperwork. The reality is that non-sworn city staff have access. As do Flock employees. As does the FBI."

Your data will be used against you (and be wrong).

#BookSky and #BlueSky family interested “Your Data Will Be Used Against You: Policing in the Age of Self-Surveillance” (released yesterday), here is a free excerpt from the book. @spectrum.ieee.org spectrum.ieee.org/digital-surv...

Write your Congressmember to say No To Mass Government Surveillance! Cosponsor PLEWSA/GSRA!. Write one here: actionnetwork.org/letters/no-t...

A great rundown from @chadmarlow.bsky.social "maybe they need to think about whether or not we should actually be keeping a location dossier on every single person in the country, because any one of us *could* turn out to be a criminal? That seems like a decidedly un-American perspective" #deflock

My latest for the @csindie.bsky.social: Some grants are more trouble than they are worth, and overtime is a dumb way to provide core services. csindie.com/somerville-c...

"There is no mechanism to discover which agencies are using what custom hotlists, or for a person to discover whether they are on a custom hotlist, to challenge their inclusion, or to request removal. There is no judicial review, no expiration requirement, and no independent audit." #deflock #alpr

NEW: A bipartisan group of lawmakers introduced a bill requiring warrants for FBI searches of Americans' communications under FISA, aligning federal law w/ a 2025 ruling that found the practice unconstitutional. It would also ban the government from buying Americans' private data from data brokers.

🔴 Surviving Surveillance Livestream with Stephen Perez of Restore The Fourth (RT4) - 3/14 @ 4pm ET Section 702 is the backdoor used to bypass your Fourth Amendment rights. Join us and Stephen Perez from Restore The Fourth to learn how to fight back. 🛡️ Link in the first reply! 🔗

Boston PD's general attitude to public records requests, whether filed by us or by members of the City Council, is to ignore them, which is a hell of an attitude to the law for a "law enforcement agency." flipsidenews.net/city-hasnt-d...

A victory for community vigilance and local journalism over an attempt to sneakily install dragnet #surveillance infrastructure in a small town! 🏆 There are shorter summaries, but these are the original local reporting and are well worth the time to read. #deflock #alpr 1/4

The vote for helmets, shields, and batons passes with only Councilor Scott opposed. The vote for surveillance software passes with (I think) only Councilor Scott opposed. The vote on the fucking basketball game is six to five. The cops get their overtime for basketball. 35/?

We filed comments to Somerville City Council too on their 2026 Annual Surveillance Report, that seeks reauthorization of around 13 surveillance techs. We object to 7: GrayKey, ShotSpotter, Pole cameras, Safety Stick, and various CCTV cameras (Fire Station/GLX/DHS) warrantless.org/wp-content/u...

We filed comments to the Cambridge City Council on the 2026 Annual Surveillance Report, that seeks authorization of around 75 surveillance technologies. We object to 8: ALPR, ShotSpotter, CCTV at Central Sq, BRIC, Magnet Forensics, Covert Cameras, police use of Sprout Social, & remote meter readers

'Flock Flocked up' How a license plate camera misread unraveled one man's life. Horrifying story of Flock misreading plates. The driver was then mauled by a police dog while officers comment he is acting like a petulant child. The license plates weren't stolen, and he was the registered owner

Tech companies and data brokers collect, analyze, store, and sell our most personal data to anyone, including the government. We need a modern privacy law in MA to protect us all from harm! TAKE ACTION: actionnetwork.org/letters/tell...

The whole "thing" about Anthropic not being willing to do "mass surveillance on Americans" is frankly a bid of a head-fake restorethe4th.com/why-bother-q...

Friends, I am LIVE AND IN THE CHAMBERS for tonight's meeting of the Somerville City Council. Also here are a few dozen people, carrying signs and singing. As Vice President @wilfredmbah.bsky.social gavels the meeting into order, they file out. Lotta police too. 1/?

@digital4th.bsky.social is our Hide & Speak Hero of the Week for their tireless efforts to get Flock Safety cameras removed from Cambridge, Massachusetts. #DigitalFourth #CambridgeMA #FlockSafety #Surveillance 👇 Continued below 👇

Victory in Cambridge! With the help of @aclum.bsky.social, @masspirates.bsky.social , @cambridgedsa.bsky.social, @aaup.org and all the members of the public who testified against it, we have ended the use of Flock Safety cameras in Cambridge, MA! www.cambridgeday.com/2025/12/10/c...

Thanks to @purplebandanna.bsky.social , @digital4th.bsky.social and others for coming out today. Looking forward to coming back to @boston-a-bookfair.bsky.social tomorrow. See you at noon!

Podcast: ICE's 'Backdoor' Into a Nationwide AI Surveillance Network 🔗 www.404media.co/podcast-ices...

New: DHS tells police to brace for the anti-ICE movement to grow much bigger in threat bulletins last month that lists ordinary behavior, like riding a skateboard or livestreaming, as threatening to law enforcement. By me w/ records by @propertyofthepeople.org:

Police who keep their identities secret are, quite literally, secret police. I don’t know why this is even controversial. You don’t get to yank people off the streets while hiding your face and identity and still retain the respectability of an accountable, democratic police force.

Tom the Dancing Bug says what has to be said. substackcdn.com/image/fetch/...

Don't get excited, Flock is training law enforcement agencies on what to write in the search reason field. Functionally just telling them to stop using terms like "abortion," "ICE", & "immigration" Surveillance can't provide safety because it isn't designed to. Surveillance is control, not safety

Deadline to submit comment to Seattle IT against SPD's proposed expansions of CCTV cameras & FUSUS is tomorrow 6/23. stopsurveillancecity.wordpress.com/take-action/ Nashville stopped pursuing FUSUS in April due to Trump & ICE's ability to access it nashvillebanner.com/2025/04/28/m...

So according to ICE, there was a pack of armed masked men *pretending* to be them at Dodger Stadium? Uh ....

One month apart.

In a time when Texas cops can run nationwide searches for women seeking reproductive care, automated traffic cameras aren't all they're cracked up to be: warrantless.org/2025/06/the-...

Should Mass cities and towns have the power to ban masks? warrantless.org/2025/06/dont...