Sen. Josh Hawley is demanding answers from Flock Safety over whether its rapidly expanding network of AI-powered cameras has helped create a searchable national database of Americans\u2019 movements as communities across the country pull the plug on the technology amid mounting privacy concerns.<\/p>\n
“Flock has assembled an unprecedented national surveillance network,” Hawley, R-Mo., told Fox News Digital. “They boast more than 120,000 cameras across 49 states and more than 20 billion vehicle scans every month.”<\/p>\n
“I\u2019m investigating Flock cameras to determine who has access to hundreds of millions of Americans\u2019 data and what they\u2019re doing with it,” he added. “Americans deserve answers.”<\/p>\n
POWERFUL CRIME-FIGHTING SURVEILLANCE GROWTH SPURS LAWMAKERS TO ISSUE WARNING: ‘ORWELLIAN’<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n Robert Frommer, director of the Institute for Justice\u2019s Project on the Fourth Amendment, told Fox News Digital the core concern is not simply the use of cameras, but police being able to search a person\u2019s past movements without first getting approval from a judge.<\/p>\n “The No. 1 reform that I think is needed here is a warrant,” Frommer said. “Go to a judge, explain to the judge why you should be able to use this tool.”<\/p>\n FLOCK SAFETY CAMERAS NEED CONSTITUTIONAL GUARDRAILS BEFORE FURTHER DEPLOYMENT, TENNESSEE MAYOR ARGUES<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n Frommer said police should still be able to act immediately in genuine emergencies, including cases involving imminent danger or missing people, but should be required to justify the search afterward if there was no time to obtain a warrant.<\/p>\n “Most law enforcement searches are things that happen within a few days of the crime,” he said. “You don\u2019t need to be keeping this gigantic database on everybody\u2019s movements.”<\/p>\n FLOCK SURVEILLANCE SPREADS ACROSS THE SOUTH AS RED STATE LAWMAKERS SEEK TO AX ‘1984’-STYLE TRACKING TOOLS<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n Hawley, chairman of the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Crime and Counterterrorism, launched the investigation Wednesday in a letter to Flock CEO Garrett Langley.<\/p>\n The Missouri Republican said Flock\u2019s camera network goes far beyond the discrete, local investigations for which law enforcement surveillance tools<\/a> are traditionally used.<\/p>\n LICENSE PLATE CAMERAS AT HOME DEPOT AND LOWE\u2019S SPARK PRIVACY FEARS<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n “Instead of serving discrete local investigations, as contemplated by our constitutional processes and safeguards, these camera networks harness artificial intelligence to pool what they capture into a national database that customers can search,” Hawley wrote.<\/p>\n Flock\u2019s automated license plate reader cameras<\/a> capture passing vehicles and can log details, including a vehicle\u2019s license plate, description, location and time. The Atlanta-based company markets its technology to law enforcement agencies, businesses and homeowners associations.<\/p>\n \u2018DARTH VADER\u2019 USES DARK SIDE TO MOCK CONTROVERSIAL SURVEILLANCE CAMERAS: ‘THE EMPEROR IS A FAN OF FLOCK’<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n In a statement to Fox News Digital, Flock Safety spokesperson Paris Lewbel said the company had received Hawley\u2019s letter and would respond directly to the subcommittee\u2019s questions.<\/p>\n “We look forward to working with Senator Hawley and the Subcommittee to provide additional context about how our technology works, the safeguards built into our platform and how law enforcement agencies use Flock to solve crime and find missing people,” Lewbel said.<\/p>\n Hawley said law enforcement needs tools to catch offenders and keep communities safe but argued Americans should not have to surrender their privacy while carrying out everyday routines.<\/p>\n DAVID MARCUS: CHINA TRIP A GLIMPSE INTO THE SURVEILLANCE STATE AMERICA MUST NEVER BECOME<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n “Americans do not surrender their privacy rights when they drive to work, drop their kids off at school, or go to church,” Hawley wrote. “The Supreme Court has recognized that a comprehensive, retrospective record of a person\u2019s movements is different in kind from ordinary observation in public.”<\/p>\n Rep. Keith Self, R-Texas<\/a>, echoed Hawley\u2019s concerns in a post Wednesday on X, arguing the Fourth Amendment “is not up for \u2018compromise.\u2019”<\/p>\n “Our Founders did not risk their lives so a CEO could trade our rights for profit and perceived \u2018safety,\u2019” Self wrote, invoking Benjamin Franklin\u2019s warning against giving up essential liberty for temporary safety.<\/p>\n Axios first reported Hawley\u2019s investigation.<\/p>\n Frommer said Flock\u2019s position that agencies control their own data-sharing settings does not resolve the privacy issue when those agencies can be connected to far broader networks than they realize.<\/p>\n “The fact that they technically control the data is a false promise when reality has shown that these things are often spread much further than agencies expected,” he said.<\/p>\n The scrutiny comes as a growing number of cities and counties reconsider their relationships with Flock, citing concerns over data sharing, privacy and the potential for misuse.<\/p>\n On Tuesday, the Pflugerville City Council voted unanimously to end the Texas city\u2019s agreement with Flock. City staff will turn off all 28 automated license plate reader cameras covered by the contract and disable access to the system, according to the city.<\/p>\n “Public safety and public trust have to go hand in hand, and recent revelations about the Flock system have fueled concerns throughout the community; we can\u2019t engage with organizations we can\u2019t trust,” Pflugerville Mayor Doug Weiss said in a statement.<\/p>\n Pflugerville police had used Flock cameras since 2020. The city had considered a new two-year agreement that included updated privacy, security and data policies, but officials said they lost confidence in the company\u2019s ability to meet the city\u2019s standards.<\/p>\n FOREIGN ENEMIES HAVE A SHOCKINGLY SIMPLE WAY TO TRACK US TROOPS OVERSEAS, LAWMAKERS WARN<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n “ALPR technology is a valuable investigative tool, and we have seen firsthand its ability to help protect our community during critical incidents,” Pflugerville Police Chief Willie Richards said. “But as useful as this tool is, we must have confidence that the safeguards and settings we put in place function exactly as intended. Unfortunately, we\u2019ve lost confidence in the current system and the vendor\u2019s ability to meet our data and privacy standards.”<\/p>\n Lewbel said Flock respects Pflugerville\u2019s decision and said the city had participated in Texas\u2019 statewide sharing network, which she described as distinct from one-to-one sharing between agencies.<\/p>\n “Statewide sharing allows participating Texas agencies to search across the network using a full license plate,” Lewbel said. “Agencies control their sharing settings and can change or revoke them at any time.”<\/p>\n Lewbel said Flock\u2019s audit logs showed statewide sharing had been enabled for Pflugerville since 2024, and that agencies receive monthly emails detailing their sharing relationships.<\/p>\n She said the company identified two out-of-state agencies that had been mistakenly categorized as Texas agencies and included in the statewide network.<\/p>\n “We take responsibility for that error, which was corrected months ago,” Lewbel said.<\/p>\n NORTHEASTERN CITY VOTES TO END SHOTSPOTTER CONTRACT FOR GUNFIRE-DETECTION TECH DESIGNED TO FIGHT CRIME<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n In Hood County, Texas, the Commissioners Court voted to end its relationship with Flock and later unanimously directed that the county\u2019s three cameras be disconnected and covered until they can be removed.<\/p>\n Constable John Shirley said his office carried out the court\u2019s decision, sharing photos of the cameras unplugged and covered.<\/p>\n “Today is a good day for the Freedom of the people of Hood County,” Shirley wrote in a Facebook post. “These cameras were constantly scanning and recording regular folks just going about their day.<\/p>\n “That kind of permanent, warrantless tracking doesn\u2019t belong in a free society,” he added. “Privacy isn\u2019t optional, and mass surveillance isn\u2019t how we do things here.”<\/p>\n Shirley later stressed that he supports technology that helps police solve crimes, find missing people and locate dangerous suspects, but he said public safety cannot end the conversation about individual liberty.<\/p>\n “We can have good policing and still insist on boundaries,” he said. “We can use technology without giving government unlimited surveillance capability.”<\/p>\n Shirley said the cameras remain Flock\u2019s property and that he was carrying out the Commissioners Court\u2019s direction, not acting independently. He told the company to “come get your garbage out of my county.”<\/p>\n Tempe, Arizona, has also turned off its Flock automated license plate reader system and will end its contract with the company, city officials said.<\/p>\n The cameras are no longer collecting license plate data, and Tempe said it does not plan to hire another company to replace the system.<\/p>\n While Tempe police said the cameras had helped solve crimes, the city cited recent misuse of automated license plate reader systems in Arizona and elsewhere as raising concerns about the risks associated with the technology.<\/p>\n Tempe police found no misuse of its own Flock system, according to the city. Flock will remove the cameras, and Tempe said previously collected data will be automatically deleted after 30 days unless it is tied to an ongoing case or investigation.<\/p>\n Frommer said the constitutional concerns extend beyond Flock to any provider of interconnected license plate reader technology.<\/p>\n “License plate readers, as a technology, are incredibly helpful. They can help solve crimes,” he said. “But there have to be safeguards in place, constitutional safeguards in place \u2014 no matter whether it\u2019s Flock or Axon or Motorola or another company.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Sen. Josh Hawley is demanding answers from Flock Safety over whether its rapidly expanding network of AI-powered cameras has helped create a searchable national database of Americans\u2019 movements as communities across the country pull the plug on the technology amid mounting privacy concerns. “Flock has assembled an unprecedented national surveillance network,” Hawley, R-Mo., told Fox … Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-77949","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-blog"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/news2shorts.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/77949","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/news2shorts.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/news2shorts.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news2shorts.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news2shorts.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=77949"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/news2shorts.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/77949\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/news2shorts.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=77949"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news2shorts.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=77949"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news2shorts.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=77949"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}