Congressional legislation against automated plate readers

Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont, Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York, and Senator Jeff Merkley of Oregon introduced the Ban Flock Act on Friday. The legislation prohibits all federal agencies from operating automated license plate readers or obtaining license plate data gathered by local police departments and private vendors. Under the proposal, state and municipal governments that fail to outlaw the technology would forfeit grant funding from five federal departments, including the Department of Justice and the Department of Homeland Security. The bill provides narrow carve-outs only for automated toll collection and future congressionally authorized programs with data retention caps of 48 hours. The legislation also enables citizens to file federal lawsuits over surveillance violations and authorizes state attorneys general to pursue enforcement.

“We cannot allow America to become a surveillance state where a handful of AI oligarchs profit by giving the government the power to track our every movement.”

Federal court declares dragnet search unconstitutional

The legislative move follows a Thursday ruling by Judge Sara E. Hill of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Oklahoma. Hill determined that a local deputy who used Flock cameras to track a vehicle traveling toward California conducted an unconstitutional warrantless search without probable cause, describing the action as indiscriminate mass surveillance. The decision challenges previous legal standards that permitted automated road monitoring under Fourth Amendment exceptions for public travel. Flock spokesman Paris Lewbel stated that the ruling diverges from decisions nationwide and noted that the company expects an appeal. George Washington University law professor Andrew Guthrie Ferguson noted that the ruling treated automated license plate readers as tracking systems requiring judicial oversight.

Expanding scrutiny and vendor rule revisions

Flock operates the largest license plate reader network in the United States, with more than 120,000 cameras logging over 20 billion vehicle reads each month as of February 2026. The company faces mounting scrutiny following reports that at least 50 law enforcement officers faced charges or accusations for misusing surveillance databases, including instances of stalking women. In one case, a former Milwaukee officer pleaded guilty to misconduct after running 179 unauthorized queries on an ex-partner under the guise of official investigations. In August 2026, more than 50 municipal governments canceled, rejected, or deactivated camera contracts according to anti-surveillance tracking group DeFlock. Flock chief executive Garrett Langley subsequently shortened default data retention from 30 days to seven days and added automated lockout tools for suspicious user behavior.

“Across the country, Big Tech companies like Flock Safety have built a mass surveillance system to harvest Americans' private and personal data without their consent.”

Unauthorized installations and state highway removals

Scrutiny over camera deployment extends to physical hardware across multiple states. Florida authorities recently removed license plate readers from highways throughout the state, while local officials in St. Lucie County identified 14 unauthorized cameras installed along public roadways. While the St. Lucie County Sheriff's Office claimed responsibility for three units placed without municipal permits, 11 devices remain under unknown ownership. County officials issued a 30-day notice for unidentified operators to claim their hardware before municipal crews dismantle or cover the equipment. Flock representatives reached out to county administrators to resolve the unpermitted installations, matching previous documentation of permit irregularities by the vendor in 2024.

Claimed by sheriff's office without permits3

Unclaimed from unknown operators11

Claimed by sheriff's office without permits

3 cameras

Unclaimed from unknown operators

11 cameras

Data from the article text