Sen. Josh Hawley (R-MO) is introducing legislation as soon as Wednesday that would impose new limits on AI-powered surveillance cameras from Flock Safety and other companies used by police, local governments and businesses across the country.
CBS News reports that the bill, called the Stop Flock Abuse Act, targets automated license plate readers, cameras capable of recording a vehicle’s make, model and color. It would tighten rules on how the data those cameras collect can be stored, secured and searched.
Under the measure, local governments would be barred from selling or sharing vehicle data gathered by the cameras. Agencies would have to permanently delete driver data within 10 days unless a criminal investigation is underway. Surveillance networks would also be banned from using facial recognition technology. Searches would require written approval, and an audit log would have to be preserved to guard against unauthorized or rogue searches. The bill further requires that data be encrypted and kept within the United States.
“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,” Hawley said in a statement to CBS News. “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.”
Hawley opened an investigation in August into Flock and other surveillance technology companies. Last week he chaired a Senate Judiciary subcommittee hearing on the issue. Executives from Flock, Axon, Motorola and Verkada were invited to testify but declined to appear.
“I think that that’s unfortunate and I think we need to hear from them about what their networks do,” Hawley said during the hearing.
Flock Safety CEO Garrett Langley instead sent the panel a letter describing safeguards the company has put in place. Flock’s website says the company maintains a network of 120,000 cameras across 49 states. In its own statement addressing federal regulation of surveillance technology, the company said, “Effective frameworks should preserve law enforcement’s ability to use an important public safety tool while requiring accountability, oversight and responsible data practices.”
Breitbart News previously reported that Langley has called for a “compromise” between safety and privacy:
Flock, which makes automated license plate readers, surveillance cameras and drones used by police departments across the country, has drawn criticism from multiple directions in recent months. Breitbart News recently reported that the “Have I Been Flocked” website has been launched to allow citizens to check if they’ve been targeted by police searches due to concerns about inappropriate usage of the AI-powered technology.
“When people talk about just one of these, privacy or safety, they’re prioritizing the wrong thing, and what we have to prioritize as a country is compromise,” Langley said. He framed the challenge facing his company and the country plainly: “How do we have our safety, and how do we balance privacy?”
Among those who testified at the hearing was Lindsey Isaacs, a Florida woman who was wrongfully accused of fleeing a fatal accident after her Dodge Durango was misidentified on a Flock camera. She was jailed in solitary confinement as a result.
“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 testified.
Hawley described what the hearing revealed about the cameras as a “threat.”
Read more at CBS News here.
Lucas Nolan is a reporter for Breitbart News covering issues of AI, free speech, and online censorship.