Sanders introduces bill to ban the federal government from using Flock

Senator Bernie Sanders introduced the “Ban Flock Act” on Friday, a bill that would prohibit federal agencies from employing automatic license‑plate readers (ALPRs) or accessing data gathered by ALPR systems operated by local police departments and private firms. Although the legislation’s title references Flock Safety, the text does not name the company; instead it bans any ALPR technology, allowing exceptions only for toll collection and for future congressional authorizations that would restrict data retention to 48 hours. If the measure becomes law, state and local governments that continue to use the technology would forfeit federal grants from five departments—including the Justice Department and the Department of Homeland Security—starting the first fiscal year after enactment, and they could face lawsuits from citizens as well as enforcement actions by state attorneys general. The bill is co‑sponsored by Representative Alexandria Ocasio‑Cortez and Senator Jeff Merkley, though it faces an uphill legislative path.

The bill targets Flock Safety, the nation’s largest ALPR vendor, which operates more than 120,000 cameras and processes over 20 billion vehicle reads each month, according to the company’s February blog post. Valued at over $8 billion by its venture backers, Flock has come under mounting public pressure as communities protest its surveillance network, suspend its use, and increasingly cancel contracts. In response, CEO Garrett Langley announced in August that the default data‑retention period would be cut from 30 days to seven, a move aimed at addressing privacy concerns while the company’s broader practices remain under scrutiny.

The proposed legislation arrives amid a broader debate over mass surveillance and the role of private firms in public‑sector policing. If passed, the ban would force federal agencies to abandon ALPR technology and could compel state and local jurisdictions to either discontinue the systems or lose critical federal funding, reshaping how law‑enforcement agencies track vehicles. The issue will be highlighted at the upcoming Disrupt event in San Francisco, scheduled for October 13‑15, where Langley is slated to speak, underscoring the ongoing clash between privacy advocates, lawmakers, and the surveillance industry.

⚡ Effects Interpreter