John Oliver targets police surveillance technology on Last Week Tonight

tvAug 3, 202616664

On Last Week Tonight John Oliver tore into widely used police surveillance tools, calling networks of cameras, microphones, license-plate readers and cell-site simulators “Big Brother on steroids.” Oliver said local police adoption has exploded because prices fell and federal funding rose, and that departments combine those tools in predictive policing that has been weaponized against immigrants. He named specific problems: more than 2,000 surveillance cameras in New Orleans, ShotSpotter microphones used in over 200 jurisdictions that mistake fireworks and nail guns for gunfire, and automated license-plate readers that bank photos of every passing car and retain movements for 30 days. Oliver highlighted companies and policies that widen access, noting software firm Fusus advertises one-click requests for business camera footage and is developing livestream access to homeowners’ Ring cameras, while cities such as Rialto require businesses to allow police footage access. He cited harms from false alerts, including at least a 35 percent false-alarm rate for ALPR alerts in a recent study and a Denver stop where officers pulled over a car full of children as young as six after assuming the vehicle was stolen. Oliver closed by urging greater public awareness of what surveillance systems exist and how they are used.

Electronic Frontier Foundation

@eff.org

"Flock cameras are just one part of a vast ecosystem," @lastweektonight.com's John Oliver warned his audience last night. "Check out resources like the EFF's Atlas of Surveillance, which catalogs each of the technologies used in your area." www.atlasofsurveillance.org/

3667h ago

cycle132.bsky.social7

Hope this draws attention to the matter and encourages people to take action. While they’re at it, online, every user should also consider installing EFF’s Privacy badger to limit pervasive tracking.

Babak Farhang2

A heads up. The main web page is inoperable from Firefox browser (typing my location in the box hangs the app). So many "likes" and yet somehow nobody notices 🙄

Michelle M.1

A world atlas of surveillance would be great.

cycle132.bsky.social1

Might have missed it on the atlas, are there any resources to help citizens express their concerns about Flock, Shotspotter, etc. to their local representatives?

Quoting this

Electronic Frontier Foundation125

Check out this clip and make sure you search the Atlas of Surveillance to see what surveillance technologies are being used in your community. www.atlasofsurveillance.org

404 Media

@404media.co

EXCLUSIVE: 404 Media has obtained a coaching guide that Flock surveillance gives to police about “how to speak to city councils about public safety technology.” @jasonkoebler.bsky.social reports. Read the full story here: www.404media.co/own-the-narr...

2144h ago

Quoting this

treekisser2

Oakland gets owned in this pro-Flock police guide

Cynthia Brumfield

@metacurity.com

Last night's John Oliver main segment is right up our alley. www.youtube.com/watch?v=lnBP...

167h ago

Andrew Guthrie Ferguson

@profferguson.bsky.social

Thank you @lastweektonight1.bsky.social for an excellent episode on policing tech. I think I could teach an entire seminar course on the policing related episodes. Brilliant stuff. youtu.be/lnBPhelCdWE?...

166h ago

Greg

@jamyang.net

A rare look inside China’s #surveillance systems, & the #risks created by their unchecked sprawl. Each new public security platform is another place sensitive personal data can be left exposed. Important reporting by Lily Kuo on @marchofer.bsky.social research: www.nytimes.com/2026/08/02/w...

68h ago

Bi of Hormuz1

Private companies do all of this here

Quoting this

Bi of Hormuz5

Boy I sure am happy to live in a FREE nation without unwarranted surveillance

Bi of Hormuz2

Boy I sure am happy to live in a FREE nation without unwarranted surveillance

CherieAnne

@cherieanne.bsky.social

John Oliver Says Taco Bell Has the Moral High Ground Over Trump Administration Amid "Explosive Diarrhea" Parasite Crisis - The Hollywood Reporter

76h ago

Maybe Miri

@mirimiri9999.bsky.social

Remember that scene in the Dark Knight where Batman used a mass surveillance tool to catch the Joker and it was a huge controversy and treaty as a great moral wrong? Anyway, every police dept in America loves flock and its ability to track people without their consent.

46h ago

jientho.bsky.social

@jientho.bsky.social

We need to educate/inoculate OUR public representatives about/against this blatant copaganda. “You. Work. For. Us, THE PUBLIC. Not. For. The. Police. Nor. The. Surveillance. Industry.”

65h ago

Boodreaux's Fjords

@boodreaux.bsky.social

Fun to see my county highlighted for abusing surveillance youtu.be/lnBPhelCdWE?...

61h ago

Atlas Mugged (N95 Duckbill 😷)✊🏿🏳️‍🌈 🏳️‍⚧️

@pamacious.bsky.social

Gaslighting: Flock tells law enforcement agencies that police need to say they want Flock because they want to keep the community safe: “You care about your community. That’s why you’re bringing this in.” "Surveillance companies regularly try to get police to act as quasi salespeople and ..."

36h ago

Turquoise Roof

@turquoiseroof.org

The company that developed this #surveillance platform sells products that have been deployed in Tibet, including bomb disposal, counter-terrorism, #UAV, & riot control, equipment, all sold in bulk to "frontline public security users" in #Tibet & #Xinjiang archive.is/oXqWy

A white four-rotor drone manufactured by Changyuan Power (Beijing) Technology Co., Ltd. (长源动力（北京）科技有限公司 translated by NYT as "Origin Dynamic"), with black propellers and landing gear, against a textured gray background.

The 02 August, 2026 article by Lily Kuo of the New York Times found links between the foreigner tracking platform and Origin Dynamic, a Beijing company that provides robotics, surveillance services and equipment to the police, according to public tender documents.

47h ago

northstar

@lucyksy.bsky.social

"Big Brother on Steroids" John Oliver looks at multiple forms of surveillance, how poorly they work, how law enforcement tries to hide their usage, how it's promoted, and where it's being used. It is so widespread. www.youtube.com/watch?v=lnBP...

42h ago

mmmmmmmmm

@mmmmmmuhh.bsky.social

i guess john oliver has a piece on it i can refer to now, nice

38h ago

Call me AMPHIFA Jack

@admiraljacksparrow.bsky.social

America Land of the police state So Orwellian- thanks to ALPR Flock cameras STOP the Surveillance State NOW‼️ www.threads.com/share/_zt4nX...

36h ago

Kathy Byrne

@kab-fair.bsky.social

please watch John Oliver from yesterday, his show is dedicated to surveillance and how you may not even realize how often you are being surveilled, the access these cameras are providing even to flock employees watching a Chick-fil-a manager’s office & then there’s the cellphone surveillance

36h ago

2 sources

theguardian.comJohn Oliver on police surveillance: ‘Big Brother on steroids’littlegreenfootballs.comA Timely John Oliver Investigation: Police Surveillance Technology

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John Oliver targets police surveillance technology on Last Week Tonight

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