{"rewrite":{"id":"r_c6ae7141a7ab82a0b7fc42ab","clusterId":"c_ead3c1b9e2b3a6397f9099be","slug":"youtuber-builds-his-own-license-plate-camera-then-police-visit-his-home","model":"deepseek-v4-1-flash","headline":"YouTuber Builds His Own License Plate Camera, Then Police Visit His Home","summary":"Software engineer and YouTuber Anthony Sistilli built a homemade license plate recognition camera in Brampton, Ontario, after his city spent 2 million Canadian dollars on high-resolution cameras and ALPR. He tracked police cars with it and posted videos on TikTok. Local police visited his home and asked about the intent of the data. One officer said people could know where officers are, their working hours, and what they do during the day.","whyItMatters":"Sistilli turned the surveillance camera back on the police and drew a home visit, which is the same power imbalance a Texas city council member described when 459 outside agencies were found searching one town's Flock Safety data.","webCardHtml":"\u003cp\u003eAnthony Sistilli, a software engineer and YouTuber, built his own automatic license plate recognition camera after his home city of Brampton, Ontario, spent 2 million Canadian dollars on high-resolution cameras and ALPR. He pointed it at police cars and posted videos explaining the build and how it works. Local police then came to his home and asked what he intended to do with the data he had collected.\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eHis own investigation into why the cameras keep spreading led him to Jonathan Kauffman, a city council member in Hurgerville, Texas, where Flock Safety cameras were removed. A citizen request about police searches there turned up searches from 459 other agencies.\u003c/p\u003e","blueskyPost":"YouTuber Anthony Sistilli built his own license plate camera in Brampton, Ontario, and tracked police cars. Local police came to his door and asked what he meant to do with the data.","twitterPost":"Anthony Sistilli built a homemade license plate camera in Brampton, Ontario, and pointed it at police cars. Officers visited his home and asked about the intent of the data he collected.","threadsPost":null,"newsletterBlurb":"A YouTuber in Brampton, Ontario, built his own license plate recognition camera and tracked police cars, after which local officers came to his home and asked about the intent of his data. He then looked into why the commercial version keeps spreading. In Hurgerville, Texas, a citizen request revealed 459 other agencies had searched the town's Flock Safety data.","attributionJson":"[{\"source\":\"GIGAZINE\",\"url\":\"https://gigazine.net/news/20261013-youtuber-built-flock-camera-track-cops/\",\"title\":\"YouTuber Builds Own 'Automatic License Plate Capture System' to Track Police Cars, Leading to Officers Visiting His Home\"}]","lintFlagsJson":null,"lintHits":0,"costUsd":0,"inputTokens":4672,"outputTokens":586,"status":"published","repairAttempts":0,"nextRepairAt":null,"factsAttemptedAt":1791897733,"createdAt":"2026-10-13T13:17:17.000Z","publishedAt":"2026-10-13T13:21:07.000Z","updatedAt":"2026-10-13T13:21:07.000Z"},"cluster":{"id":"c_ead3c1b9e2b3a6397f9099be","canonicalTitle":"YouTuberがパトカーを追跡する「自動ナンバープレート撮影システム」を自作したら自宅に警官がやって来る事態に発展","representativeArticleId":"a_7cc169735b8ace55e76d883d","sourceCount":1,"writtenSourceCount":1,"writeAttempts":0,"isSolo":true,"entitiesJson":"{\"anime_titles\":[],\"manga_titles\":[],\"work_titles\":[],\"studios\":[],\"people\":[],\"type\":\"news\",\"domain\":\"other\",\"is_roundup\":false}","contentType":"news","status":"published","firstSeenAt":"2026-10-13T12:00:00.000Z","lastSeenAt":"2026-10-13T12:00:00.000Z","updatedAt":"2026-10-13T13:21:06.000Z"},"attribution":[{"source":"GIGAZINE","url":"https://gigazine.net/news/20261013-youtuber-built-flock-camera-track-cops/","title":"YouTuberがパトカーを追跡する「自動ナンバープレート撮影システム」を自作したら自宅に警官がやって来る事態に発展"}],"entities":{"anime_titles":[],"manga_titles":[],"work_titles":[],"studios":[],"people":[],"type":"news","domain":"other","is_roundup":false},"keyFacts":null}