Bipartisan No FLOCK Act Targets Police License Plate Surveillance
New legislation would leverage federal transportation funding to limit automated license plate readers to five specific public safety use cases.
Congressmen Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-IL) and Michael Cloud (R-TX) have introduced the No FLOCK Act, a bipartisan effort to restrict the deployment of automated license plate readers (ALPRs). The legislation targets the proliferation of surveillance tools, specifically those provided by Flock Safety, by leveraging federal transportation budgets to force state-level compliance.
Under the proposed law, the U.S. Secretary of Transportation would be authorized to withhold federal funding from states that fail to limit the use of ALPRs. The bill mandates that these devices be used exclusively for five specific categories: enforcing toll systems, identifying stolen vehicles, locating missing or endangered persons, identifying vehicles registered to individuals with felony warrants, and investigating vehicles involved in felony offenses. Congressman Krishnamoorthi stated that the bill aims to establish clear limits to prevent abuse while preserving legitimate public safety uses, following investigations that exposed gaps in oversight.
The Rise of ALPR Surveillance
Flock Safety and similar ALPR providers have seen rapid adoption by police departments across the United States. These systems allow law enforcement to track vehicles tied to crimes in real-time, creating a digital dragnet of movement. However, this expansion has triggered a nationwide backlash. Critics and privacy advocates point to reports of officer misuse and the broader implications of mass surveillance, where the ability to track any vehicle at any time creates a permanent record of citizen movement without traditional judicial oversight.
A Financial Lever for Privacy
By tying compliance to federal highway and bridge funding, lawmakers are employing a historical tactic used by the federal government to mandate national standards. A prominent example of this strategy was the federal government's previous use of highway fund threats to establish a national minimum drinking age. In this instance, the financial pressure is designed to curb "surveillance creep," ensuring that AI-powered police tools do not expand beyond critical public safety needs into general monitoring.
The Path Forward
Whether the No FLOCK Act will move forward remains uncertain, particularly given the political landscape and varying levels of support for surveillance technology within the executive branch. While the bill establishes a framework for restriction, it does not ban ALPR systems entirely. Observers will be watching to see if other lawmakers join the bipartisan effort to codify these limits or if the rapid adoption of AI-driven policing continues to outpace federal regulation.