Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY), Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT), and Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-OR) introduced legislation Friday that would prohibit the federal government from using Flock Safety’s automated license plate reader cameras and cut off federal funding for state and local governments that use the technology.
The legislation, dubbed the Ban Flock Act, would bar federal agencies from using or accessing data collected by automated license plate readers, or ALPRs. It would also prohibit federal grants from going to state and local governments that use the technology.
“We cannot allow America to become a surveillance state where AI oligarchs profit by giving the government the power to track our every movement,” Sanders said.
“Big Tech companies like Flock Safety have built a mass surveillance system to harvest Americans’ private and personal data without their consent,” Ocasio-Cortez added. “I’m proud to introduce the Ban Flock Act with Sen. Sanders to enforce our constitutional right to privacy.”
Flock operates a nationwide network of roughly 120,000 cameras that capture license plates and vehicle characteristics, along with the time and location of the images.
The legislation comes as Flock faces growing scrutiny over how law enforcement agencies use its technology. A Washington Post investigation found dozens of police officers had misused Flock cameras to track romantic partners and other people for unauthorized purposes, prompting the company in August to announce tighter oversight measures, including requiring officers to attach a criminal case number to every search.
The bill also comes as lawmakers from both parties have raised concerns about the technology.
Sen. Josh Hawley (R-MO), chairman of the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Crime and Counterterrorism, invited the CEOs of Flock Safety, Axon Enterprise, Motorola Solutions, and Verkada to testify at a Sept. 23 hearing focused on the companies’ AI-powered surveillance technology.
Senators unload on Flock surveillance cameras after tech CEOs skip hearing
Hawley has also been working on his own legislation, the Stop Flock Abuse Act, which would impose additional restrictions and auditing requirements on the use of ALPR technology.
But the Ban Flock Act would go further by targeting the technology’s use and funding at the federal level and conditioning federal grants to state and local governments on a ban on their use of ALPRs.
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[ H/T Washington Examiner ]
