CBP Quietly Used Flock’s Camera System For Nationwide Vehicle Tracking - 1

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CBP Quietly Used Flock’s Camera System For Nationwide Vehicle Tracking

  • Written by Kiara Fabbri Former Tech News Writer
  • Fact-Checked by Sarah Frazier Former Content Manager

The Customs and Border Protection (CBP) organization gained access to more than 80,000 automated license plate reader (ALPR) cameras operated by Flock Safety.

In a rush? Here are the quick facts:

  • Flock cameras track license plates, models, colors, and timestamps.
  • Boulder Police said it unknowingly shared data with CBP through Flock.
  • Flock CEO admitted poor communication and paused all federal pilot programs.

According to records obtained by 404 Media and local outlets, it was shown that CBP performed extensive searches across the United States, raising new concerns about federal surveillance activities.

404 Media notes that Flock’s cameras, often promoted as local tools to fight car theft or property crime, have been quietly linked into a national network. The network operates by recording license plate numbers, vehicle model information together with the time stamps of passing vehicles.

The newly released data by 404Media demonstrates CBP had direct access to the network for searches, without needing local police to act as intermediaries.

In one case, 404Media reports that Boulder Police Department said it “does not have any agreement with U.S. Border Patrol for Flock searches” and claimed it wasn’t aware CBP was accessing its data. The department has since disabled the feature that allowed nationwide lookups.

A spokesperson for Flock confirmed to 404 Media that “Flock has paused all federal pilots.” In a blog post, CEO Garrett Langley admitted the company failed to set “distinct permissions and protocols in the Flock system to ensure local compliance for federal agency users.”

He said Flock would now mark federal agencies separately to give local departments clearer control.

However, internal dissent remains. One Flock employee told 404 Media the company “will defend it as they have been by saying Flock follows the law,” but raised concerns that shifting U.S. laws could expand federal access further.

404Media reports that the audit logs demonstrate that CBP performs camera searches that extend beyond the scope of local department searches. The number of networks that CBP accessed on June 13 reached 6,429 while other agencies accessed 6,049 networks.

404 Media says CBP has not responded to requests for comment.

Dutch Neobank Bunq Fined $3 Million For Failing Money Laundering Controls - 2

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Dutch Neobank Bunq Fined $3 Million For Failing Money Laundering Controls

  • Written by Andrea Miliani Former Tech News Expert
  • Fact-Checked by Sarah Frazier Former Content Manager

The Dutch central bank, De Nederlandsche Bank (DNB), has fined the neobank bunq €2.6 million (about $3 million) for failures in its anti-money-laundering controls.

In a rush? Here are the quick facts:

  • bunq has been fined 2.6 million euros for failures in money laundering controls.
  • DNB accused the online bank of “serious deficiencies in its anti-money laundering controls.”
  • The Dutch neobank filed an objection to the regulator’s fine.

According to the Dutch regulator’s official announcement published on Monday, the online bank bunq has been sanctioned for “serious deficiencies in its anti-money laundering controls during the period under review, from January 2021 to May 2022.”

In its investigation, DNB found that bunq’s customer transaction monitoring was classified as “high-risk.” The regulator determined that the neobank failed to comply with the Anti-Money Laundering and Anti-Terrorist Financing Act (Wet ter voorkoming van witwassen en terrorismefinanciering, Wwft), which sets rules for preventing money laundering and terrorist financing, and concluded the violations were severe and culpable.

“Between 2018 and 2023, DNB carried out several examinations into bunq’s compliance with the Wwft,” wrote the DNB. “During these examinations various instances of non-compliance with the Wwft were identified, that were found to be both severe and culpable.”

bunq filed an objection to the fine, which is still pending. According to Techzine, the company said it takes the integrity of the financial system very seriously. “That is why we use the most advanced technologies and continuously implement improvements,” said a spokesperson to Techzine.

This is the second dispute between bunq and the DNB. In 2018, bunq successfully challenged the regulator after it prohibited the bank’s use of AI for transaction screening; the court ultimately ruled in bunq’s favor.

The neo-banks market has been growing rapidly in the past few years, with unique approaches such as TBC Uzbekistan’s AI solutions and more digital alternatives for customers’ money management and finances. Regulators have been watching closely and sanctioning firms for lapses. A few months ago, the British company Wise was also accused of having weak anti-money laundering measures and was forced to fix them by European regulators.