John Oliver targets police surveillance technology on Last Week Tonight

tvAug 3, 202619719

On Last Week Tonight John Oliver tore into police surveillance tools he called ‘wildly invasive’ and likened modern local systems to “Big Brother on steroids,” a phrase one mayor used. Oliver said local forces have rapidly expanded use of cameras, microphones, license-plate readers and cell-site simulators as federal funding and falling prices made deployments widespread. He noted New Orleans has more than 2,000 surveillance cameras and quoted an officer who said they could not have determined shooter versus victim without the footage, then mocked that as a poor defense. Oliver flagged companies and practices that let police access private business and homeowner cameras, citing Fusus’s pitch to pull footage at the click of a button and livestream Ring feeds, and noted some cities require businesses to share footage. He described ShotSpotter’s microphone system being used in over 200 jurisdictions while often mistaking fireworks and other noises for gunfire. Oliver said automated license-plate readers bank photos of every passing car and retain movement records for 30 days, and he cited a study finding at least 35 percent of ALPR alerts are false; he also recounted a Denver stop that mistakenly treated a car full of children as stolen. Oliver closed by urging greater public awareness of what technologies are in use and pointing viewers to resources such as the EFF’s Atlas of Surveillance.

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/

37946d 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 Foundation128

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...

23445d ago

Quoting this

intrusive_thoughts_librarian 💭📚3

Deflock your entire city, state NO abusive surveillance state

treekisser3

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...

1646d 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?...

1646d ago

McSpocky™

@mcspocky.com

John Oliver just exposed it cold: tRump once called crypto a “scam,” then raked in $2.2 billion from his family’s sketchy crypto empire while nearly a million regular people lost $3.8 billion on his meme coins. Flagrantly corrupt, the tRump grift never sleeps. www.huffpost.com/entry/john-o...

1345d 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...

646d 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

746d 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.”

745d ago

ᴡᴇ ʙᴜɪʟᴛ ᴛʜɪꜱ ᴄɪᴛʏ

@webuiltthiscity.bsky.social

I’m so glad Flock cameras and other surveillance technology are getting this kind of mainstream coverage — thanks to @404media.co leading the way by covering this extensively over the past several months. Shut this stuff down! youtu.be/lnBPhelCdWE?...

545d ago

Boodreaux's Fjords

@boodreaux.bsky.social

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

645d 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.

446d 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 ..."

346d 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...

445d 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.

446d ago

mmmmmmmmm

@mmmmmmuhh.bsky.social

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

346d 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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