EFFecting Change: Get the Flock Out of Our City

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EFFecting Change

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EFFecting Change: Get the Flock Out of Our City

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February 19, 2026 - 12:00pmto1:00pm PST February 19, 2026 - 12:00pmto1:00pm PST Online Flock contracts have quietly spread to cities across the country. But Flock ALPR (Automated License Plate Readers) erode civil liberties from the moment they're installed. While officials claim these cameras keep neighborhoods safe, the evidence tells a different story. The data reveals how Flock has enabled surveillance of people seeking abortions, protesters exercising First Amendment rights, and communities targeted by discriminatory policing. This is exactly why cities are saying no. From Austin to Cambridge to small towns across Texas, jurisdictions are rejecting Flock contracts altogether, proving that surveillance isn't inevitable—it's a choice. Join EFF's Sarah Hamid and Andrew Crocker along with Reem Suleiman from Fight for the Future and Kate Bertash from Rural Privacy Coalition to explore what's happening as Flock contracts face growing resistance across the U.S. We'll break down the legal implications of the data these systems collect, examine campaigns that have successfully stopped Flock deployments, and discuss the real-world consequences for people's privacy and freedom. EFFecting Change Livestream Series:
The Human Cost of Online Age Verification
Thursday, January 15th
12:00 PM - 1:00 PM Pacific
This event is LIVE and FREE!

Accessibility

This event will be live-captioned and recorded. EFF is committed to improving accessibility for our events. If you have any accessibility questions regarding the event, please contact events@eff.org.

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Upcoming Events

Want to make sure you don’t miss our next livestream? Here’s a link to sign up for updates about this series: eff.org/ECUpdates. If you have a friend or colleague that might be interested, please join the fight for your digital rights by this link: eff.org/EFFectingChange. Thank you for helping EFF spread the word about privacy and free expression online.

Recording

We hope you and your friends can join us live! If you can't make it, we’ll post the recording afterward on YouTube and the Internet Archive!

About the Speakers

Sarah Hamid Sarah (she/any) is the Director of Strategic Campaigns at EFF. She has been a community organizer working at the intersection of technology, global/domestic warfare, and punishment-based criminal and bordering systems for the past decade. In 2018, she co-founded the Carceral Tech Resistance Network, a knowledge-sharing network connecting grassroots efforts against the design, testing, and deployment of violent technologies. Now sunsetting, CTRN’s network grew to include 76+ advocacy groups across the Midwest, Southwest, and West Coast at its height. At EFF, Sarah supports strategic campaign initiatives across domestic and international contexts, developing coordinated action infrastructure and expanding the range of remedies available to lawmakers and frontline communities. Andrew Crocker Andrew is the Surveillance Litigation Director at EFF. His work focuses on surveillance, privacy, and cybersecurity. As Surveillance Litigation Director, he leads EFF's legal work on issues at the intersection of technology and privacy through lawsuits and amicus briefs in state and federal courts, including the U.S. Supreme Court. He also leads EFF’s Coders' Rights Project, which provides representation for security researchers, journalists, and hackers, who often face unwarranted legal threats and scrutiny for their work. Representative cases include challenging the constitutionality of national security letters (NSLs); working to establish that the Fifth Amendment privilege against self-incrimination protects against the compelled decryption of electronic devices; and limiting overbroad anti-hacking laws such as the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act (CFAA). He also writes and speaks about EFF’s legislative and advocacy priorities including FISA Section 702, anti-encryption proposals, location tracking and other novel surveillance techniques. He received his undergraduate and law degrees from Harvard University. Kate Bertash bio coming soon... Reem Suleiman bio coming soon... ●Calendar Share It

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