Flock Cameras (thread 18), Episode 3: When Paper Became a Database: The John Entick Case That Shaped Privacy

Picture agents breaking into your home and reading every scrap of paper for hours: that happened to John Entick in 1762.

He sued, won, and a judge insisted the government can’t do useful things just because they’re useful — there has to be law. That old ruling still matters as cameras and databases collect everything about us.

This episode wraps up the series by connecting those 18th-century fights over papers and general warrants to modern questions about license-plate readers, servers, and what counts as lawful surveillance.