Sanders, AOC and Merkley Introduce Bill to Ban Federal Use of Flock License Plate Cameras

Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) introduced the Ban Flock Act on Friday, October 2, with Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) and Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.) as co-sponsors, according to a release from Sanders' Senate office. The bill would bar federal agencies from buying, using or accessing data from automatic license plate readers, commonly called ALPRs, and would cut off grants from five federal departments, including the Justice Department and Department of Homeland Security, to any state or local government that keeps using the technology.

Despite the bill's name, the text doesn't single out Flock Safety by name, according to TechCrunch. It covers any ALPR system. The only carve-outs are toll collection and future uses Congress specifically approves, which would be capped at 48 hours of data retention.

The bill would let Americans sue the federal government over violations and let state attorneys general enforce it. Federal employees caught using an ALPR would face retraining, suspension, termination or other discipline, according to the bill text cited by The Daily Caller.

Flock's Scale and the Misuse Cases

Flock Safety is the largest ALPR vendor in the country, with more than 120,000 cameras processing over 20 billion vehicle reads a month, according to Sanders' office. The company is valued at more than $8 billion by its venture backers, according to TechCrunch.

The Washington Post reported in August that at least 50 law enforcement officers had been charged with or accused of misusing Flock and similar systems, including to track romantic partners, according to reporting cited by The Independent. One confirmed case: a former Milwaukee police officer pleaded guilty to misconduct after searching for his then-partner and her ex 179 times, logging the reason as "investigation," according to TechCrunch.

Flock CEO Garrett Langley has responded to the pressure. In August the company cut its default data retention period from 30 days to seven and rolled out an audit tool that locks officers out of searches pending review when activity looks unusual, according to TechCrunch. At least 56 municipalities have deactivated, canceled or rejected Flock contracts so far this year, according to the anti-surveillance tracking app DeFlock, cited by The Independent and the Denver Gazette.

Sanders' office claims Flock has shared state data with federal immigration authorities and that law enforcement has used Flock data to investigate activists involved in Palestinian-rights and "No Kings" demonstrations, according to Mashable. No independent investigation or court finding in these sources confirms the scope of that specific allegation, and Flock's own response to it isn't included in the available reporting.

Not the Only Bill in Play

This isn't a one-party concern. Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.), who chairs the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Crime and Counterterrorism, hauled in the CEOs of Flock, Axon, Motorola Solutions and Verkada for a hearing on September 23, according to the Denver Gazette. Hawley has his own bill in the works, the Stop Flock Abuse Act, which would add auditing and restriction requirements rather than banning federal use outright. Rep. Anna Paulina Luna (R-Fla.) said in July she planned to introduce a bill banning the cameras entirely, though as of this reporting she hadn't filed it, according to The Daily Caller.

Hawley's approach tightens the leash on ALPRs without getting rid of them. The Ban Flock Act goes further, and it does it by threatening to pull HHS, HUD, DOT, DOJ and DHS grants from any town or county that doesn't fall in line.

The Case for Keeping the Cameras

Law enforcement agencies that use Flock didn't get a direct voice in these sources beyond Langley's public comments about retention and audit reforms. But the broader argument for ALPRs is straightforward: they're used to recover stolen vehicles, locate suspects in violent crimes, and respond to Amber Alerts. A nationwide ban, even just at the federal level, removes a tool agencies say helps close cases faster. Whether that benefit outweighs the documented stalking cases and the sheer volume of data Flock's network now collects, 20 billion vehicle reads a month, remains contested in the policy debate.

The bill faces long odds in a divided Congress, and TechCrunch noted as much. What's clear is the trend underneath it: contract cancellations are accelerating, Hawley already has CEOs on record before his subcommittee, and Flock itself has now cut data retention twice in two years under public pressure. The next marker to watch is whether Hawley's narrower bill or Sanders' broader one gets a committee vote first, and whether Luna ever files the outright ban she promised back in July.