Rep. Greg Steube, a Florida Republican, introduced legislation on Friday that would mandate judicial warrants for federal agencies seeking to purchase, operate, access or share data from networked licence plate reader systems. The proposal, called the Facilitating Liberty and Accountability for Flock Observations Act, would also condition Department of Justice grants to local police departments on their adoption of similar warrant requirements.
Steube’s bill specifically targets Flock Safety, an Atlanta-based company that operates approximately 120,000 licence plate readers across the country and controls more than 80% of the market. The cameras photograph vehicles and record licence plate numbers, makes, models and locations in databases accessible to police departments in multiple jurisdictions. Steube cited investigations in Florida, Indiana, Illinois and Wisconsin that documented instances of officers misusing these databases as justification for the legislation.
The introduction of Steube’s bill represents the third such proposal in recent weeks. On September 2, Rep. Thomas Massie of Kentucky introduced the Flock-Off Act, which would prohibit federal funding for licence plate readers and biometric surveillance cameras. That measure attracted bipartisan support, including from California Democrat Ro Khanna and Republicans Chip Roy and Lauren Boebert. Two weeks later, Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi of Illinois and Rep. Michael Cloud of Texas introduced the No Flock Act in response to reports of officers using the technology for stalking. Their legislation would grant states two fiscal years to restrict cameras to five approved uses or face a 10% reduction in certain federal transportation funding.
The legislative push reflects widespread public and local government opposition to the technology. According to Secure Justice’s Flock Termination Tracker, municipalities in 36 states have cancelled Flock contracts, with Santa Cruz becoming the first California city to terminate its agreement in January. In September, Florida’s transportation department revoked all permits for local police to operate licence plate readers on state roads. Texas Governor Greg Abbott halted state funding for the cameras earlier that month, preceding a media investigation into significant state spending on the technology.
President Trump has voiced support for the cameras, stating that he appreciates their law enforcement applications, though acknowledging that some view them as an infringement on privacy. The Institute for Justice, a libertarian legal organization, reports documenting more than 200 documented cases of abuse involving automated licence plate readers, including instances of stalking and wrongful stops.
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