ACLU – October 1, 2026

Last week I testified before the U.S. Senate about Flock and other automatic license plate readers (ALPRs), and how dangerous the nationwide surveillance network they’ve built is for our privacy and our democracy. I came with one demand: Congress must ban these cameras – full stop.

Whether it’s Flock, Axon, Motorola, or another company’s cameras that are watching, the problems are the same. They’ve created an unaccountable mass surveillance system that spies on us as we go to the doctors, drop our kids at school, attend religious services, and makes it easy for law enforcement to piece together where any of us might be at any time – regardless if we’ve been suspected of any wrongdoing.

These cameras are dangerous when they work and when they don’t. Every day, there are new reports of police officers across the country using these ALPRs to stalk their partners and intimidate people who criticize them. There are also more and more reports of these cameras getting it wrong – with one Florida woman spending more than 3 days in solitary confinement and months in legal hell for a crime she didn’t commit. This isn’t technology that can be regulated into safety – it needs to be banned.

The good news: More than 200 municipalities have already cut ties with Flock and other ALPR companies because the threat to our privacy is that clear.

Last week, I went to Congress and told them directly how dangerous this mass surveillance technology is to every person in America. Now, your members of Congress need to hear from you. Tell them it’s time to protect our privacy and ban automatic license plate readers for good.