Tag: technology

The Flock Camera Backlash Is A Very Good Sign

In a year as chaotic, violent, and economically destructive as this one has been, it is interesting that, to many Americans, the great villain of 2026 is turning out to be a traffic camera.

But, indeed, we are seeing visceral, cross-partisan opposition to so-called Flock cameras—named after the leading manufacturer of these automated license plate readers—take hold in communities across the country. And that opposition is, to be sure, entirely legitimate.

Flock’s camera networks are based on the idea that, while it would obviously be illegal and unconstitutional for law enforcement at any and all levels to put GPS trackers in everyone’s cars, it would be legal for a cop standing on some street corner to report that they had seen a specific vehicle drive by if it later turned out that that car had either been stolen or used to commit a crime.

But, taking that idea that public observations are not violations of privacy, Flock and similar companies help set up networks of cameras that record and register the license plate, make and model, and identifiable details of every single passing vehicle into a timestamped and searchable national database. And, as more and more of these cameras are added to streets and parking lots all over the country, and they, therefore, get harder and harder to avoid, the data the government has access to becomes essentially indistinguishable from what they would have if there were government GPS trackers in all of our cars.

There are currently around 120,000 of these cameras across 49 states, with more being added every day. And the American people are not happy about it.

In a genuine grassroots movement spreading primarily through local Facebook groups and the like, with little coverage outside local media, concerned citizens are doing everything from pressuring local lawmakers to rescind their contracts with Flock Safety to donning masks and cutting the cameras down with electric saws.

And this opposition is starting to have some success. More than 50 jurisdictions have ended their relationships with Flock after local backlash. And, after Flock tried and failed for months to get the wider public to view organizations that track the location of these cameras as terrorists because some have used those locations to avoid, disable, or destroy some, the company announced last week that it was implementing several changes to try and defuse the public anger.

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What JPMorgan Saw Inside Tesla’s Fremont Factory As Humanoid Production Nears

Retail flows across Asia remained heavily concentrated in newly listed, high-beta names, most notably Chinese robotics maker Unitree following its blockbuster Shanghai debut. The retail craze surrounding physical AI merely shows Beijing’s accelerating push to dominate the humanoid market.

To close out the week, we pivot across the Pacific for a peek inside the US humanoid-robotics supply chain, where Tesla’s Fremont buildout provides a timely indicator of how quickly physical AI is advancing.

Rajat Gupta, a JPMorgan analyst who covers Tesla, recently toured Tesla’s Fremont factory and reported to clients this week that the facility, once the birthplace of the company’s electric vehicles, is now pivoting toward producing robotaxis and humanoid robots.

Gupta and his colleagues toured the roughly 5-million-square-foot facility and found that the discontinued Model S and Model X production lines are being replaced by manufacturing equipment for Tesla’s Optimus humanoid.

“On Optimus, production lines are being installed at Fremont (the area was tarped off at the time of our visit), and TSLA remains largely on schedule for the targeted four-month transition following the end of S/X production in May, with initial humanoid deployments in 2H26 expected to focus on Optimus Academy for training and data collection, followed by internal factory use and external sales as early as 2H27,” the analyst said.

He said that Optimus robots are not currently working inside the Fremont plant. Initial deployments in the second half of 2026 will instead take place at the “Optimus Academy,” where the robots will collect real-world training data before being deployed in factories.

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US spy tech agency IARPA ‘MOVES’ to diagnose people’s neurological conditions from video clips

IARPA, the US spy tech agency, is working on how to diagnose various  neurological conditions by analyzing video clips of how people move. 

Intelligence& Counterterrorism

Last April, the US Intelligence Advanced Research Projects Activity (IARPA) announced the launch of its Movement Observation and Video-based Evaluation System (MOVES) program aimed at diagnosing neurological  health conditions from open source video clips.

These neurological conditions include:

  • Parkinson’s Disease
  • Huntington’s Disease
  • Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis
  • Cerebellar Ataxia
  • Essential Tremor
  • Dystonia

Shakes, tics, tremors, gaits, jerks, imbalances, and difficulties in walking, talking, swallowing, and breathing are all to be analyzed and diagnosed from video clips that may not have great angles or resolution.

And the people in the videos may be wearing all types of clothing like winter jackets, tunics, kurtas, headwear, and camo that could obfuscate their neurological conditions.

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The Pentagon Just Declassified a UFO Report the Government Spent 80 Years Hiding

Project Blue Book shut down in 1969 and the Air Force told America there was nothing left to investigate.

Now Trump forced open the files – and what they buried is exactly what they didn’t want you reading.

And what happened to a soldier’s watch during a UFO encounter will leave you scratching your head in disbelief.

What Was in the Fifth Release

The account comes directly from the Pentagon’s own files – filed through the All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office and posted to war.gov/UFO on August 7 as part of Trump’s PURSUE program.

Two US military witnesses observed an unidentified object.

When it was over, one witness checked his analogue watch.

It was running 25 minutes fast.

He told investigators he had been watching the watch throughout the entire encounter.

The jump happened with no warning and no mechanical explanation.

Here’s the detail that makes this impossible to dismiss: his companion’s digital watch showed the correct time.

The dashboard clock in their vehicle showed the correct time.

Their phones showed the correct time.

Only the analogue watch – the one with physical moving parts – was affected.

A Harvard Physicist Now Advises the White House on This

Avi Loeb isn’t a fringe figure.

He’s a theoretical physicist at Harvard University, the former chair of Harvard’s astronomy department, and now chairs the UAP Science Advisory Council advising the White House and Pentagon directly.

When Loeb reviewed this report, he offered three possibilities.

First: electromagnetic interference.

An object producing a strong enough electromagnetic field could theoretically disrupt the mechanical components of an analogue watch while leaving digital devices – which operate on entirely different internal mechanisms – unaffected.

Loeb noted this would require a very specific type of emission.

Second: a classified American black project.

The US military runs experimental technology nobody publicly acknowledges.

If the witnesses stumbled onto a domestic program, the electromagnetic signature could explain the time discrepancy.

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Montreal minor allegedly used AI to plan school attack targeting Muslims, Haitians and LGBTQ+ community

A Montreal minor arrested in a national security investigation allegedly used artificial intelligence while planning a potential attack on a school and posted threats targeting Muslims, Haitians and members of the LGBTQ+ community, according to new details provided by the RCMP to Rebel News.

The RCMP’s Integrated National Security Enforcement Team arrested the youth Friday morning after investigators said they had reasonable grounds to believe the suspect might commit a violent extremism offence.

The investigation began several weeks ago after the FBI provided intelligence to Canadian authorities.

In response to an inquiry from Rebel News reporter Alexa Lavoie, the RCMP revealed additional details not included in its initial public statement.

“According to the alleged facts, the individual was planning an attack at a school located in Montreal,” the RCMP told Lavoie.

Police said the suspect “allegedly used artificial intelligence as part of the potential planning of an attack in the Montreal area.”

The RCMP also clarified who was allegedly targeted by threatening messages posted online.

“He also allegedly posted threatening statements on Telegram targeting various groups, including Muslim, Haitian and LGBTQ+ communities,” police said.

Investigators also executed a search warrant at the youth’s residence, seizing electronic devices and any other evidence considered relevant to the investigation.

The police operation was intended to disrupt the suspect’s alleged activities and require him to enter into a peace bond under Section 810.011 of the Criminal Code.

That provision allows authorities to seek a recognizance where there are reasonable grounds to fear a person may commit certain terrorism or criminal organization offences, without waiting for the feared offence to occur.

Despite the arrest, the investigation remains ongoing and charges could be laid at a later date.

“The investigation is ongoing, and all of the evidence will be analyzed,” the RCMP told Rebel News.

The youth was scheduled to appear Friday in Youth Court at the Montreal courthouse.

The RCMP characterized the investigation as involving ideologically motivated violent extremism and said combating such threats remains a national priority.

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Drone Warfare in Ukraine and the Changing Nature of Combat

Ukraine has exposed serious weaknesses in Russia’s conventional military by relying on drones, electronic warfare, and rapid technological adaptation to offset Moscow’s advantages in manpower and equipment. The world’s second most powerful military could be able to carpet-bomb Ukrainian positions, then follow through with a massive surge of troops and tanks all the way to Kyiv. However, the development of new technologies has changed that calculus, making it increasingly costly to deploy expensive aircraft or risk large numbers of troops and tanks.

Ukraine demonstrated that rapid innovation, such as FPV strike drones, decentralized command, and real-time intelligence sharing, could inflict disproportionate damage on a larger conventional force. At sea, Ukraine effectively neutralized much of Russia’s Black Sea Fleet using domestically produced Neptune anti-ship missiles, one of which sank the flagship Moskva, and explosive sea drones, forcing the Russian Navy to retreat from Crimean ports.

However, the war is far from over. There are no noticeable signs that Russia is on the brink of surrender, and those saying that the paradigm of war has changed permanently, or that this war proves traditional staples such as infantry, tanks, and aircraft have become obsolete, are premature at best, if not misguided.

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Peter Thiel-Funded Company Anduril to Triple the Number of Autonomous Surveillance Towers Along the US-Mexico Border

In June, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) released a new report that detailed how the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has contracted with Anduril Industries—a Peter Thiel-funded company—to nearly triple the number of surveillance towers along US borders. The report outlines the plan to increase the number of surveillance towers from 830 to 2,300 by 2034.

The new GAO report describes the “Integrated Surveillance Towers” (IST) program that currently consists of “803 fielded towers located along US borders that detect items of interest, such as people or vehicles.”

The IST program includes towers from four legacy systems, including Autonomous Surveillance Towers (AST). An AST is a solar-powered surveillance tower that the DHS says can “provide autonomous surveillance operations 24 hours per day, 365 days per year.” The towers are equipped with radar, optical, and thermal cameras.

According to the GAO report, in August 2024, DHS approved the purchase of up to 42 additional ASTs. DHS had previously approved Customs and Border Protection’s (CBP) request to purchase up to 133 additional towers between 2022 and 2023. The report states that the program should be completed by March 2034, with 2,300 deployed by that date.

The GAO was established in 1921 to serve as an independent and nonpartisan agency that audits the federal government. The GAO releases annual reports on key issues and details its findings to Congress.

The Electronic Frontier Foundation, a non-profit dedicated to digital privacy and rights, called the expansion of border surveillance a “digital dumpster fire for human rights and civil liberties.”

“It’s not just surveillance towers; drones, aerostats, surveillance vehicles, ground sensors, game cameras, and license plate readers are also part of the vast taxpayer-funded infrastructure that threatens all those who live, work, or seek refuge in the borderlands,” the EFF wrote in response to the GAO report. “This technology isn’t exclusive to U.S. federal agencies: it’s also deployed by state and local law enforcement, and even by governments on the Mexican side.”

The EFF also noted that these rapidly expanding surveillance technologies place residential neighborhoods in Arizona within the sight of the towers, making them “capable of spying on homes on both sides of the border.”

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US Government Warns: Hackers Attacking Vulnerable Water Systems With AI Help

Several U.S. government agencies have said that cyber actors are attempting to hack into devices made by industrial systems company Siemens that are used to monitor water and other critical infrastructure systems.

In an advisory published on Wednesday, the FBI, National Security Agency (NSA), Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), and other U.S. agencies informed “owners and operators of industrial control systems” that there is an “active cyber threat to Siemens S7 Series PLCs,” or programmable logic controllers—an industrial automation system.

Unnamed “threat actors are conducting reconnaissance and capability development against U.S.-based Siemens PLC installations using AI-generated exploitation scripts disguised as legitimate monitoring tools,” the advisory said.

It added that the hackers use services to find PLCs connected to the internet that run what the agencies said is “outdated software” or are “otherwise poorly protected.”

“The U.S. critical infrastructure sectors most targeted by this threat activity include Critical Manufacturing, Energy, Water and Wastewater, Chemical, Food and Agriculture, and Commercial Facilities,” the advisory reads.

“This is not a theoretical risk—it is an active threat.”

The agencies further warned that “exploitation of poorly protected PLCs could lead to disruption of critical industrial processes, safety incidents, downtime or equipment damage, compromise of sensitive data, compliance violations, and cascading impacts across interconnected systems.”

Organizations using Siemens systems are encouraged to apply relevant security updates, isolate devices and systems from the internet where possible, implement strong security protocols, and strengthen monitoring for potential malicious activity, according to the advisory.

“These mitigations are particularly important for owners and operators who work with third-party service providers or system integrators who may have remote access to PLCs, as the asset owners may not realize that their systems are exposed and at risk,” they added.

The advisory did not provide the name of a specific group, country, or actor that may be involved in attempting to hack the Siemens systems. Nor did it name companies that may have been targeted by the threat actors.

The warning ‌comes amid U.S. cyber incidents ⁠targeting local water systems in several states in recent weeks. The FBI said earlier this month that from July 27 to July 30, water and wastewater utility companies in seven states reported security-related incidents.

In July, CISA and other agencies said Iran-linked hackers have targeted PLCs made by Rockwell Automation, Schneider Electric, Siemens, and potentially others.

A cybersecurity risk organization, Encrygma, said on Wednesday that a group linked to Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, known as the CyberAv3ngers, has attacked water systems in the United States and displayed political messaging. CISA linked the group to cyberattacks on PLCs in late 2024.

Since February, the United States and Iran have traded strikes as the Trump administration has demanded that Tehran give up its nuclear program and reopen the Strait of Hormuz, a crucial waterway that allows for the transportation of significant amounts of the world’s traded oil.

Other agencies that were involved in the release of Wednesday’s advisory included the Department of Energy and the Environmental Protection Agency.

The NSA, FBI, CISA, and other U.S. agencies have long said that the Chinese regime, Iran, North Korea, and Russia have engaged in malicious cyber activity against U.S. infrastructure networks, collecting intelligence and engaging in cyber espionage.

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‘Have I Been Flocked’ Website Lets You Check If Police Searched for Your Car Using Flock Camera System

A new website allows drivers to find out whether their license plate has been photographed and searched through law enforcement agencies’ Flock camera systems.

The new website, “Have I Been Flocked,” compiles Flock camera audit logs and lets users see if their plate number has been run through the Flock application by a system operator.

If a person’s license plate appears in the database, it means not only that the plate was photographed, but that someone using the Flock system actively searched the database for that plate, according to the site. Included in the audit log is the stated reason someone in law enforcement gave for looking up the plate.

The site notes several limits to what its records show. The database does not reveal when or whether a vehicle passed one of the Flock Safety cameras. Those searching Flock databases are not necessarily police officers, and appearing on the site does not mean a person was under investigation.

The database of audit logs was built through FOIA public records requests filed with 6,586 different agencies across the country. Organizers caution that some information may be outdated or incomplete.

“The dataset is incomplete; few governments provide easy access to these logs, and the records we obtain are often redacted,” organizers of the site warn.

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Amazon ‘Prime Air’ To Expand Drone Delivery To Nearly 500 US Cities This Year

Amazon’s Prime Air drone delivery service, first teased by Jeff Bezos in a 2013 60 Minutes interview as a way to get packages under 5lbs to customers in 30 minutes or less, represents the broader push toward autonomous aerial last-mile logistics that could bypass traffic and cut delivery times dramatically. 

After years of regulatory hurdles with the FAA, technical iterations, and limited trials, the service has matured into a commercial offering using the MK30 drone, which hovers to drop packages.

A major breakthrough came in 2024, when the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) granted Amazon a waiver allowing its drones to fly beyond the visual line of sight of their operators, and has already completed hundreds of thousands of deliveries in 2026 across 11 sites in seven states. 

Today Amazon announced plans to expand it to nearly 500 US cities and towns by year-end – a roughly sixfold increase – bringing ultrafast options (as quick as 30 minutes) to tens of millions more customers in places like the Chicago, Atlanta, Cleveland, Syracuse, and Boise metro areas.

The drones will primarily operate in suburban areas, away from skyscrapers and major airports that could complicate operations.

Amazon describes the aircraft as “highly autonomous,” with onboard cameras and sensors for navigation, obstacle detection, and safe delivery.

The cameras do not transmit a live video feed, according to the company.

The company also sought to address the potential concern about noise.

“During drop-off, the sound level is below that of an idling delivery truck parked curbside and lasts about 30 seconds,” Amazon said.

Someone standing outside may hear a sound “comparable to a window fan on low” as the drone arrives, while people indoors may not hear it at all, the company added.

Prime Air delivery is free for Prime members on orders of at least $50, but orders below that threshold carry a $2.99 delivery fee, while customers without a Prime membership are charged $4.99.

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