Tag

4th Amendment

Articles and publications tagged 4th Amendment across the Atmosphere.

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Articles

Publications

TechdirtOct 7, 2026

Federal Court Says Flock ALPR Database Searches Require A Warrant

On one hand, it's great to see a ruling like this. On the other hand, it's not going to set any precedent, not even in its own jurisdiction. But it does push this conversation forward, judicially speaking, which means other cases reliant on ALPR tech have some new reference material to add to challenges of...

4th amendmentalpr

TechdirtOct 5, 2026

States Prosecuting Platforms For Being Platforms? Section 230 Is Supposed To Avoid This Mess, We Reminded A Court

The other day the Copia Institute filed an amicus brief at the Fourth Circuit in a case involving West Virginia attempting to punish Apple for not filtering CSAM the way it thinks it should. The issue raised in the appeal was in some respects a narrow one: could Apple cause the case West Virginia brought...

1st amendment4th amendment

TechdirtSep 18, 2026

Desperate DHS Demanded Info On Beanie Cap Buyers While Trying To Prosecute Journalists

Some day we'll look back at this and laugh. I mean, I would hope so. The DOJ and DHS are still trying to put people in jail for protesting a church whose pastor was also an ICE officer. Ultimately, the protesters entered the church and disrupted the service. Among those entering the church were a...

1st amendment4th amendment

TechdirtSep 15, 2026

The High Crime Of “LMAO”: How Cops Are Treating Flock Mass Surveillance As A Joke

Here's a riddle: Why did a Goshen Police Department officer search 6,474 automated license plate reader (ALPR) networks, representing data from 82,413 cameras, on May 7, 2025? If your answer is "I don't know," it turns out you're 100% correct. The officer left the letters "idk" in the search field where cops are supposed to...

4th amendmentalpr

TechdirtSep 14, 2026

Appeals Court Sees Nothing Wrong With Terrorizing A 14-Year-Old To Obtain A Confession

It's easy to get submerged by the wave of bad news generated by the current administration on what often seems to be an hourly basis. Ask me how I know. My time is pretty much split between whatever ICE is doing and whatever Flock is doing, which results a whole lot of bad law enforcement...

4th amendment5th amendment

TechdirtSep 10, 2026

DHS Feeding Citizens’ Bank Records To Predictive Policing Units To Find Drivers To Pull Over

Every government does stuff because it can, not because it needs to. But this current administration has been far more opportunistic than most, doing constitutional recon in areas of unsettled law right up until a court rules that it can't. (In some cases, it continues to do these things despite having lost in court.) While...

4th amendmentborder patrol

TechdirtSep 4, 2026

Cop Shops Keep On Dropping Flock Like It’s Hot

You have to know you're fucking up when your largest and best-paying customer base is increasingly noping out of contract renewals. That more than anything is probably what provoked ALPR maker Flock Safety to start implementing a few guardrails for use. It seemingly had no problem with being the target of negative press for most...

4th amendmentalprs

TechdirtAug 26, 2026

ICE Tries, Fails To Illegally Raid An Immigration Law Office; Settles For Empty Threats Instead

The thing about raiding law offices is that they tend to be filled with people who actually know the law. A bunch of opportunistic ICE officers thought they might be able to talk their way into an illegal search, but that initiative (is that the word for this?) died out almost immediately when the interloping...

4th amendmentcalifornia

TechdirtAug 26, 2026

As Flock Vandalism Goes Mainstream, One Grand Jury Says Alleged Flock Vandal Did Nothing Wrong

Flock Safety has been on the wrong side of the press cycle -- if not the wrong side of history -- for most of the last couple of years. Flock's automated license plate readers (ALPRs) are more comprehensive than many of those previously deployed by law enforcement agencies. Not only do they capture plate/location data,...

4th amendmentalpr

TechdirtAug 25, 2026

Flock Once Tried To Turn Every Ride Share Driver Into Part Of Its ALPR Network

Until just recently, Flock never felt it needed to rehabilitate its image, even when several cities were dumping contracts and cameras over persistent surveillance concerns. When cities shut down systems, Flock just kept running. In some cases, it even installed cameras that without proper permits or any other legal authorization. What's hurting Flock now is...

4th amendmentalpr

TechdirtAug 19, 2026

Marion County, Kansas Has Racked Up $4 Million In Settlements Since It Raided A Local Paper’s Office

Sure, the town's insurance will pay most of this, but it's probably fair to say most of this small county's population (11,823 at last count) wasn't supportive of local law enforcement's decision to violate as much of the First Amendment and Fourth Amendment as possible in the apparent hopes of making one local business owner...

1st amendment4th amendment

TechdirtAug 7, 2026

Another Federal Judge Says Cell Tower Dumps Are Unconstitutional

Well, it looks like investigators better go back to doing actual investigations in the Fifth Circuit, rather than just assuming a little paperwork and a whole lot of assistance from service providers is going to do their work for them. For at least the second time in the same state (Mississippi), federal judges have rejected...

3rd party doctrine4th amendment

TechdirtAug 6, 2026

California Town Says Flock Cameras Misread License Plates 71% Of The Time

Flock Safety's automatic license plate readers were first sold as upmarket add-ons for gated communities and HOA curtain-twitchers who wanted to keep tabs on what everyone was doing, whether they lived there or not. Flock soon realized that selling to rich people wasn't as profitable as selling to governments. Law enforcement agencies have always been...

4th amendmentalprs

TechdirtJul 27, 2026

Protester Charged With Destroying Property After Giving CBP Agents His GrapheneOS ‘Duress’ Mode Passcode

Atlanta, Georgia's attempt to erect a law enforcement officer training center in Atlanta was met by months of concerted protests. As the months stretched into years (the center was announced in 2021 but did not complete construction until 2025), opposition efforts ranged from peaceful protests to heated exchanges during public comment sessions to attacks on...

1st amendment4th amendment

Ben WerdmullerApr 27, 2012

CISPA: Act now

The Cyber Intelligence Sharing and Protection Act just passed in the House, during a vote that was moved up a day and staged during the NFL draft. It vastly expands the already onerous act into one that allows significant domestic surveillance. As TechDirt notes: Basically it says the 4th Amendment does not apply online, at all. This bill must be blocked in the Senate. If you're a US citizen, you need to call your Senator now. This action list over on Reddit is fantastic, or, once again, Gras

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