iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Dave Maass 🔦 @maassive.bsky.social · 25/09/2026

Police, vendors and elected leaders have promised policy safeguards for ALPRs for more than a decade--and cops just adopted meaningless Lexipol boilerplate policies. Then they ignored those policies. 1/

121

Reposted by Dave Maass 🔦

Electronic Frontier Foundation @eff.org · 21/09/2026

If surveillance at the US-Mexico border is so all-seeing, why isn't it saving lives? @technologyreview.com and the Times of San Diego used EFF's map of border tech to conduct this first-of-its-kind analysis of the relationship between surveillance and migrant deaths.

technologyreview.com

The US spent billions on border surveillance. Why can’t it catch people before they die?

Surveillance towers, increasingly powered by AI, promised faster responses to crossings. Our investigation of deaths near the towers found they are failing to deliver.

910144

Reposted by Dave Maass 🔦

Mat Honan ✅ @mathonan.com · 21/09/2026

Our reporters spent the past year and some months investigating deaths along the "virtual wall" of the southern border. Their investigation reveals that a humanitarian crisis at the border has unfolded in view of the government’s own cameras: www.technologyreview.com/2026/09/21/1...

technologyreview.com

The US spent billions on border surveillance. Why can’t it catch people before they die?

Surveillance towers, increasingly powered by AI, promised faster responses to crossings. Our investigation of deaths near the towers found they are failing to deliver.

714687

Dave Maass 🔦 @maassive.bsky.social · 21/09/2026

So proud that our data helped inform this important investigation.

041

Reposted by Dave Maass 🔦

404 Media @404media.co · 19/09/2026

EFF’s investigation found cops across dozens of jurisdictions writing “LMAO,” “LOL,” “Hehe,” “Haha,” “idk,” “blah,” “TBD,” and “robbery I don’t remember the case number leave me alone” in Flock’s “reason” box for searches.

404media.co

Cops Search Thousands of Flock Cameras for Reasons of ‘LMAO,’ ‘IDK,’ ‘Hehe,’ and ‘asdfg’

The EFF found cops writing “idiot,” “WEIRD KID,” "blah," "leave me alone," and button mashing in Flock's 'reason' box.

10290121

Dave Maass 🔦 @maassive.bsky.social · 19/09/2026

These are the tech and surveillance companies that are sponsoring next month’s International Association of Chiefs of Police Conference.

0109

Reposted by Dave Maass 🔦

Electronic Frontier Foundation @eff.org · 14/09/2026

1/3 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? www.eff.org/deeplinks/2...

eff.org

The High Crime of “LMAO”: How Cops Are Treating Mass Surveillance As

With no warrant requirements, limited guardrails, and deficient audit processes, ALPR databases have fostered a culture of unrestricted access to everyone’s location information. This culture of

310457

Dave Maass 🔦 @maassive.bsky.social · 14/09/2026

The only thing surprising about the DHS Inspector General's report on Alligator Alcatraz is that they conducted an inspection at all. Also unsurprising is DHS pretty much shrugged them off. www.oig.dhs.gov/sites/defaul...

041

Dave Maass 🔦 @maassive.bsky.social · 12/09/2026

Pre-saving January albums in September is the new Halloween decorations on the shelves in July.

021

Reposted by Dave Maass 🔦

e.k. weaver @bigbigtruck.com · 10/09/2026

Front cover reveal!! Huge shout out to Sunny Lee for her masterful design work on the titling and layout

Front cover of SHOT AND CHASER, showing Tre and Olly in front of a storm cell

28512157

Reposted by Dave Maass 🔦

Cats of Yore @catsofyore.bsky.social · 29/08/2026

Kitty merch to support EFF!

326945

Reposted by Dave Maass 🔦

Ripley's Believe it or Else 🎃 @ripleylacross.bsky.social · 26/08/2026

Being a part-time worker these days may as well mean "temporary." My hours are crap at the day job this and next month, but rent is still due! Commissions are open ✨ artistree.io/request/ripl...

01720

Reposted by Dave Maass 🔦

Freedom of the Press Foundation @freedom.press · 22/08/2026

📢 Are you a journalist who uses FOIA or other public records laws in your reporting? You could win $25K with our new journalism award, the Penlight Prize. Read more and apply today:

freedom.press

New $25K ‘Penlight’ journalism award honors paywall-free FOIA reporting

The Penlight Prize celebrates paywall-free reporting based on records obtained through the Freedom of Information Act or state public records laws.

02415

Dave Maass 🔦 @maassive.bsky.social · 21/08/2026

In my mind, the first person to raise the alarm about ALPRs was freelance journalist Jon Campbell, who wrote a series of investigative reports for alt weeklies and other pubs circa 2012. I don't think he's on social media and I don't think he's doing journalism anymore, but hats off to you, bro!

050

Reposted by Dave Maass 🔦

Electronic Frontier Foundation @eff.org · 19/08/2026

Do you know how to spot covert automated license plate readers (ALPRs)? Here's what to look out for if you're on the U.S.-Mexico border. www.eff.org/deeplinks/2...

4276139

Reposted by Dave Maass 🔦

404 Media @404media.co · 16/08/2026

Police in Wisconsin used Flock to determine that a man “travels to Michigan frequently,” where marijuana is legal, then back to Wisconsin, where it is illegal. They used it as probable cause justification to search his car for weed. www.404media.co/cops-used-fl...

404media.co

Cops Used Flock to Track a Man Across State Lines to Create Pretext to Search His Car for Weed

"The vehicle travels to Michigan frequently which is a known source state for marijuana as it is legal there," a probable cause justification reads.

1021297

Dave Maass 🔦 @maassive.bsky.social · 13/08/2026

I'm wearing two hats at Dragon Con this year! We're discuss our graphic novel with the Atlanta Opera on the Alt History track. There will be live singing! Then on the Electronic Frontier Forums track I'll be discussing drones and giving my virtual tour of surveillance at the US-Mexico border.

131

Dave Maass 🔦 @maassive.bsky.social · 09/08/2026

The new EFF clawback shirt is the thing to wear this anti-surveillance summer. It’s so good.

020

Reposted by Dave Maass 🔦

Iron Spike @ironspike.bsky.social · 07/08/2026

ATTN: if you want to commission someone, but not entirely confident in your ability to avoid paying a slopper for genAI trash? There's a site or that. 👇

0545344

Reposted by Dave Maass 🔦

Cephalopods Daily @cephalopodsdaily.bsky.social · 06/08/2026

I can only hope to be as cool as this octopus one day... 🐙📷Dave Maass (@maassive.bsky.social)

A Larger Pacific striped octopus standing in a tank with two arms with its suckers visible. It is leaning on a plastic tube with two of its arms, and its striped mantle is drooping down, facing the camera. One arm is reaching back behind the mantle and is curled, making it look like the octopus is deep in thought.

341618368

Dave Maass 🔦 @maassive.bsky.social · 04/08/2026

San Diego folks: don't sleep on this talk about safely covering the border on Aug 17.

094

Reposted by Dave Maass 🔦

Drew Harwell @drewharwell.com · 02/08/2026

New: We found 50 cops who misused Flock cameras and other license-plate readers for personal purposes, often to spy on their girlfriends or ex-wives. He "watched every single move I made. ... Who do you turn the chief of police in to?" wapo.st/3S6rTuo

wapo.st

She left her ex. He secretly tracked her through a network of policing cameras.

Flock’s array of license-plate cameras was built to fight crime. But at least 50 law enforcement officers were charged with or accused of misusing it and other systems.

11042401779

Reposted by Dave Maass 🔦

Electronic Frontier Foundation @eff.org · 30/07/2026

"The number one group of people being surveilled by this technology are people who live at the border," EFF’s @maassive.bsky.social told @reason.com. "It's not migrants, it's not the cartels, it's people who live there."

reason.com

Homeland Security is spending $1 billion on 'autonomous' border surveillance towers

The department plans to triple the number of surveillance towers along the U.S.-Mexico border over the next decade.

511246

Reposted by Dave Maass 🔦

Electronic Frontier Foundation @eff.org · 30/07/2026

EFF’s @maassive.bsky.social spoke with @cnn.com about the anti-ALPR sentiment sweeping the nation. “Once people start learning about the massive scale of the data that’s being collected and who it’s being accessed by, it starts to freak them out.”

cnn.com

Flock cameras are getting mobbed | CNN

From coast to coast, Americans across the political spectrum have been taking official or vigilante action against the always-on, searchable camera network.

315543

Reposted by Dave Maass 🔦

404 Media @404media.co · 23/07/2026

By filing Freedom of Information requests, 404 Media has obtained bodycam footage and documents that uncover stories about tech that powers ICE and how cops abuse Flock. You can FOIA too! On July 30th at 1 pm ET, we will teach you how to file a FOIA request live: www.404media.co/our-new-foia...

4616303

Dave Maass 🔦 @maassive.bsky.social · 25/07/2026

Holy shit. Flock Safety just got booed at San Diego Comic-Con during the Watch Dogs 2 tenth anniversary panel. Must’ve been 1500-2000 people in the room.

216321

Dave Maass 🔦 @maassive.bsky.social · 17/07/2026

This dude was one of the first ever to contribute to the Atlas pilot, proving that it was a viable project.

0278

Reposted by Dave Maass 🔦

Electronic Frontier Foundation @eff.org · 17/07/2026

The Atlas of Surveillance, our database mapping police surveillance tech across the U.S., turns six this week! Want to know how police are keeping tabs on you and your neighbors? Search for your town on the Atlas of Surveillance: www.atlasofsurveillance.org

213359

Dave Maass 🔦 @maassive.bsky.social · 17/07/2026

Come see Andrew speak on our San Diego Comic-Con panel, “Comics vs. Authoritarianism!” on Saturday, July 25th 3:30 pm - 4:30 pm. Room 10

022

Reposted by Dave Maass 🔦

WIRED @wired.com · 17/07/2026

A statement from WIRED leadership.

255158122998

Reposted by Dave Maass 🔦

404 Media @404media.co · 16/07/2026

NEW: Cops around the country have used Flock cameras at least hundreds of times to search for specific people, not cars, using searches such as “person on skateboard,” and “person wearing orange vest and construction hat,” according to data reviewed by 404 Media.

404media.co

How Cops Use Flock to Track People, Not Cars

Cops have used Flock's FreeForm search feature to look for people with tattoos and wearing specific sport shirts, and searches sometimes include the target's race, according to data reviewed by 404 Me...

10259118

Dave Maass 🔦 @maassive.bsky.social · 15/07/2026

Come to the Black Girl Nerds-Nerd Initiative-EFF meet-up at San Diego Comic Con!

001

Reposted by Dave Maass 🔦

Electronic Frontier Foundation @eff.org · 14/07/2026

Cities across the nation are re-evaluating whether to allow mass surveillance by Flock ALPR cameras. Want to find out whether your local police are using Flock to scan for immigrants targeted by ICE? EFF tells you how. www.eff.org/deeplinks/2...

eff.org

Are Your Local Police Using Flock Safety ALPRs to Scan for Immigrants?

When a car passes an automated license plate reader (ALPR), its plate is captured and instantly compared against a list of vehicles that police are actively looking for or that police have identified

18948

Dave Maass 🔦 @maassive.bsky.social · 12/07/2026

Alas, it's time to finally have a public instagram account. If you're feeling generous with the follows on the other platform: www.instagram.com/maassinpublic

instagram.com

Instagram

Create an account or log in to Instagram - Share what you're into with the people who get you.

000

Dave Maass 🔦 @maassive.bsky.social · 10/07/2026

I was born to sit on this San Diego Comic Con panel.

170

Dave Maass 🔦 @maassive.bsky.social · 04/07/2026

This book is everything you want in a sci-fi heist novel.

041

Reposted by Dave Maass 🔦

Derf Backderf @derfbackderf.bsky.social · 02/07/2026

The Prairieland cartoonist/zinester who got 30 years for making a zine. Still short of the goal for funding his fight against this total travesty of justice. A gullible rural jury brainwashed by rightwing media, and the most fascist judge in the country. Donate & push this over the finish line.

gofundme.com

Donate to Help Artist Des Revol and His Family, organized by Jonathan Rochkind

Our friend, Daniel "Des Revol" Sanchez Estrada, has been wrongly arrested and c… Jonathan Rochkind needs your support for Help Artist Des Revol and His Family

110611239

Reposted by Dave Maass 🔦

Hypervisible @hypervisible.blacksky.app · 02/07/2026

“Dave Maass, director of investigations for the Electronic Frontier Foundation, a nonprofit that focuses on civil liberties related to digital technology, said the technology has made the border area ‘a hostile environment’ for locals and would-be migrants.”

apnews.com

Trump administration’s $46 billion 'smart wall' races ahead on the US-Mexico border

The United States is rapidly building what it calls a “smart wall” on the Mexico border, combining tall steel fencing with advanced technology like sensors and cameras.

0203

Reposted by Dave Maass 🔦

The San Diego Union-Tribune @sandiegouniontribune.com · 01/07/2026

Kelly Davis, intrepid reporter who exposed death and despair in San Diego County jails and gave voice to the downtrodden, dies at 53

sandiegouniontribune.com

Kelly Davis, intrepid reporter who exposed death and despair in San Diego County jails and gave voice to the downtrodden, dies at 53

002

Reposted by Dave Maass 🔦

Andrew Bowen (he/him) @acbowen.bsky.social · 01/07/2026

Kelly Davis was truly the best of the best. Her reporting was fearless, and always grounded in compassion and humanity. She did so much to foster community among San Diego journalists. Thank you, @byjeffmcdonald.bsky.social, for honoring her memory. www.sandiegouniontribune.com/2026/07/01/k...

sandiegouniontribune.com

Kelly Davis, intrepid reporter who exposed death and despair in San Diego County jails and gave voice to the downtrodden, dies at 53

The 2023 San Diego journalist of the year beat cancer for more than a decade before being diagnosed with a new tumor earlier this year; she leaves a lasting legacy in her adopted hometown.

15022

Reposted by Dave Maass 🔦

melanie newport @melanienewport.bsky.social · 02/07/2026

one of the best jail reporters to ever do it, without question.

073