Joshua Michael

Working for the people.
Cybersecurity researcher holding powerful systems accountable
Founder, & DataMinimal

[Joshua Michael @whoisjmichael]

Flock Safety sent me a cease-and-desist letter threatening litigation over the cybersecurity research I published on https://t.co/QsaSFsUOBN. A journalist has since shared the email Flock sent its customers, which calls me a malicious actor, says the company has notified law enforcement, and pledges to take my research offline. That email confirmed my thesis. Flock admits that when it closed the issue in December, it found no indication of unauthorized access to its data, and by its own account it only learned of what it now alleges after I published. My thesis is that a company holding the movements of nearly every American, yet unable to detect its own data leaving, is a national security threat, because a foreign adversary will never publish a paper to tip them off. I'm not backing down, so read the documents for yourself and stand with me at https://t.co/aj7KhEVGyt

[Joshua Michael @whoisjmichael]

@loyalmoses Email me [email protected]

[Joshua Michael @whoisjmichael]

It’s funny to see polymarket breaking the news first.

[Joshua Michael @whoisjmichael]

@OpinionEmissary I’m the blurred guy on the left

[Joshua Michael @whoisjmichael]

Flock Safety sent me a cease-and-desist letter threatening litigation over the cybersecurity research I published on https://t.co/QsaSFsUOBN. A journalist has since shared the email Flock sent its customers, which calls me a malicious actor, says the company has notified law enforcement, and pledges to take my research offline. That email confirmed my thesis. Flock admits that when it closed the issue in December, it found no indication of unauthorized access to its data, and by its own account it only learned of what it now alleges after I published. My thesis is that a company holding the movements of nearly every American, yet unable to detect its own data leaving, is a national security threat, because a foreign adversary will never publish a paper to tip them off. I'm not backing down, so read the documents for yourself and stand with me at https://t.co/aj7KhEVGyt

[Daro Darai IFB as fast as i can. may be in X jail. @DaroDarai]

My thesis is that a company holding the movements of nearly every American, yet unable to detect its own data leaving, is a national security threat, because a foreign adversary will never publish a paper to tip them off.

[Joshua Michael @whoisjmichael]

@MrB1080 @Polymarket https://t.co/uFnqJgBHWW :)

[Joshua Michael @whoisjmichael]

@bryanhorsey @flocksafety It’s wild to see polymarket post about this first….

[Joshua Michael @whoisjmichael]

@xHerodx @Polymarket I commented above :)

https://t.co/ek2ArGoIXm

[Joshua Michael @whoisjmichael]

@Polymarket Thanks polymarket… legal notice here: https://t.co/Wx7dT20Rmz

Learn more about whats going on at: https://t.co/ek2ArGpgMU

[Joshua Michael @whoisjmichael]

@originalfuzz @remarks https://t.co/9uRCR8LMkf

[Joshua Michael @whoisjmichael]

@eclipticvisionz @remarks https://t.co/9uRCR8LeuH

[Joshua Michael @whoisjmichael]

@derekporter_ @remarks https://t.co/9uRCR8LMkf

[Joshua Michael @whoisjmichael]

@ProtheanTexan @Polymarket https://t.co/9uRCR8LeuH

[Joshua Michael @whoisjmichael]

@loyalmoses It ain’t going down :) https://t.co/9uRCR8LMkf

[Joshua Michael @whoisjmichael]

@OrwellDay The map in question: https://t.co/9uRCR8LeuH

[Joshua Michael @whoisjmichael]

@LeadingReport Map is here btw: https://t.co/9uRCR8LeuH

[Joshua Michael @whoisjmichael]

@Polymarket Shame for not linking the superbly vibecoded map with a year of cybersecurity research in it. https://t.co/9uRCR8LeuH

[Joshua Michael @whoisjmichael]

@derekporter_ @Polymarket https://t.co/9uRCR8LeuH

[Joshua Michael @whoisjmichael]

Today, Flock Safety, through its brand protection vendor Doppel, submitted a trademark complaint attempting to take down my cybersecurity research published at https://t.co/mnCGjxEUCu.

I will not back down.

This is also not the first time Flock Safety has used trademark claims against independent projects critical of its surveillance network. In 2025, Flock Safety sent @therealDeFlock a cease-and-desist demanding that it stop using the “DeFlock” name and remove it from its website and materials. The Electronic Frontier Foundation represented DeFlock and rejected the demand.

Independent security research, criticism, and journalism should not disappear because the subject of that research doesn’t like it. I’m especially unwilling to watch Americans’ rights to free speech and independent research be eroded in the name of protecting a company’s quarterly interests, particularly when the research raises legitimate national security and cybersecurity concerns.

https://t.co/mnCGjxEUCu is mirrored at https://t.co/mQcF4Icuca.

I’ve also made the full site and all of my research available as a ZIP archive. Anyone can download it and host an independent mirror, just as https://t.co/oW489GSB4b has already done.

Welcome to the American restoration. We do not accept lawfare as a weapon of censorship.

P.S. to the owner of https://t.co/oW489GSB4b: please configure a TLS certificate so visitors can use HTTPS instead of HTTP.

[Joshua Michael @whoisjmichael]

How four reported security failures and one undisclosed 335,701-record export turned a vendor’s ‘never hacked’ assurance into a national-security question.