Senator Josh Hawley is to introduce legislation aimed at regulating Flock cameras and other AI-powered surveillance technology, with measures covering the collection, security and use of vehicle data.
The Stop Flock Abuse Act would prevent local authorities from selling or sharing information gathered by automated licence plate readers. Driver data would also have to be permanently deleted within 10 days, unless it was being used in a criminal investigation.
The cameras can record a vehicle’s make, model and colour. Hawley, a Missouri Republican, said they were creating digital records of people’s movements without sufficient safeguards.
“AI-powered cameras produced by Flock and its competitors are tracking and creating digital footprints of everyday Americans — a nightmare for individual liberties unless Congress enacts meaningful rules and accountability,” he said.
“That’s why I’m introducing the STOP Flock Abuse Act to establish basic safeguards for AI-powered cameras and protect Americans’ fundamental constitutional rights. Law-abiding Americans should not be treated like criminals.”
Proposed safeguards for Flock cameras
The bill would prohibit surveillance networks from using facial recognition technology. It would also require written approval for searches and the preservation of an audit log showing who had accessed the systems.
Any data held by the networks would have to be encrypted and stored in the United States. The proposals follow an investigation launched by Hawley in August into Flock and other surveillance technology companies.
At a Senate Judiciary subcommittee hearing last week, executives from Flock, Axon, Motorola and Verkada were invited to give evidence but did not attend. “I think that that’s unfortunate and I think we need to hear from them about what their networks do,” Hawley said.
Garrett Langley, Flock Safety’s chief executive, told the panel that the company had introduced safeguards but acknowledged that Congress should establish a federal framework. The company operates a network of 120,000 cameras across 49 states and said effective rules should preserve law enforcement’s use of the technology while requiring accountability and responsible data practices.
Among those who gave evidence was Lindsey Isaacs, a Florida woman who said she was wrongly accused of fleeing a fatal crash after her Dodge Durango was misidentified by a Flock camera. She was jailed in solitary confinement.
“I was terrified I was facing the possibility of spending the rest of my life in prison for a crash that I knew I had not been involved in,” Isaacs said.
Hawley said the hearing had highlighted the potential threat posed by AI-powered cameras to national security and the privacy of ordinary Americans.
The issue has also drawn attention from senators Raphael Warnock, a Georgia Democrat, and Katie Britt, an Alabama Republican. They have urged Attorney General Todd Blanche to give state and local governments more guidance on preventing the misuse of Flock cameras and automated licence plate readers, while several House bills seek to limit their use or restrict federal funding for the systems.
