US: Sanders moves to ban federal agencies from using Flock surveillance

US Senator Bernie Sanders has introduced legislation seeking to prevent federal agencies from using automatic licence plate readers and accessing data collected by such systems operated by local authorities and private companies.

The Ban Flock Act, unveiled on Friday by Sanders alongside Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Senator Jeff Merkley, would prohibit federal agencies from using or accessing data generated by automatic licence plate readers (ALPRs). Despite its name, the bill would apply broadly to ALPR systems rather than specifically naming Flock Safety.

The proposed legislation would allow limited exceptions for toll collection and other uses specifically authorised by Congress. Any future authorised use would require data retention to be limited to no more than 48 hours.

The bill would also seek to pressure state and local governments to stop using ALPR technology by making their access to certain federal grants conditional on compliance. Funding from departments including Justice and Homeland Security could be affected if the legislation becomes law.

Under the proposal, individuals could sue the federal government over violations, while state attorneys general would also have enforcement powers.

Flock Safety is the largest ALPR provider in the United States, according to Sanders, with more than 120,000 cameras across the country. The company says its network processes about 20 billion vehicle reads each month.

The legislation comes amid growing scrutiny of Flock’s surveillance technology and how law enforcement agencies use the data. The company has faced criticism from communities over privacy concerns and has introduced tighter controls, including reducing its default data-retention period from 30 days to seven days and requiring customers to use an audit system for unusual searches.

Sanders said the legislation was necessary to address what he and his co-sponsors described as concerns over privacy and government surveillance.

Ocasio-Cortez and Merkley are co-sponsors of the bill.