Lawmakers Want States to Crack Down on Flock Cameras—or Pay the Price
US lawmakers have introduced the No FLOCK Act, which threatens to withhold federal transportation funding from states that do not restrict the use of automated license-plate recognition cameras. The bill aims to limit the use of Flock technology to specific public safety scenarios, excluding minor infractions like parking or speeding.
Why it matters
This legislation highlights the growing tension between public safety surveillance tools and privacy rights, setting a precedent for federal oversight of local law enforcement technology.
The No FLOCK Act—for Federal License-Plate Observation and Camera Keeping—directs the US secretary of transportation to withhold 10 percent of annual financial support due to states for highways, roads, and bridges if it fails to ban Flock and similar devices for all but five use cases. Congressmen Raja Krishnamoorthi, a Democrat representing Chicago suburbs, and Michael Cloud, a Republican whose Texas district includes Corpus Christi, are cosponsoring the bill.
The legislation says that Flock cameras could be used only for “enforcing toll systems, identifying stolen vehicles, missing or endangered persons, vehicles registered to persons with a warrant for a felony offense, or investigating a vehicle involved in a felony offense.” Notably absent are uses like conducting traffic studies, investigating minor drug crimes, and enforcing parking and speeding rules.
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