Sanders introduces bill to ban the federal government from using Flock
Senator Bernie Sanders has introduced the Ban Flock Act, which seeks to restrict federal agencies from using automatic license plate reader (ALPR) technology. The bill aims to limit data retention and penalize state and local governments that continue to use such surveillance systems.
Why it matters
This legislation highlights the growing national debate over privacy, mass surveillance, and the extent to which private technology companies should be integrated into government law enforcement operations.
Flock, whose cameras scan license plates across the country, continues to draw public anger, and now Senator Bernie Sanders wants the federal government out of the business altogether.
Sanders (D-Vermont) on Friday introduced the Ban Flock Act , which would bar federal agencies from using automatic license plate readers (ALPRs) or tapping into data collected by readers run by local police and private companies. Despite its title, the bill doesn’t call out Flock in the text and covers any and all ALPR systems.
The bill allows exceptions only for toll collection and for uses that Congress approves in future legislation, which would have to limit data retention to no longer than 48 hours.
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