Ban Flock Act Proposed in the US Sente
Senators Bernie Sanders and Jeff Merkley and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez introduced the Ban Flock Act to ban federal use of automatic license plate readers and restrict funding for local governments using them.
summary is enough The press release outlines the proposed legislation clearly, making the full text unnecessary unless you need specific legal provisions.
summary
Senators Bernie Sanders and Jeff Merkley, alongside Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, have introduced the Ban Flock Act to curb mass surveillance by companies like Flock Safety. The legislation prohibits federal agencies from using automatic license plate readers and cuts off federal grant funding to state and local governments that deploy them. Proponents cite documented abuses including tracking protesters, sharing data with immigration authorities, and personal stalking by law enforcement. The bill includes provisions allowing citizens to sue over violations, though specific narrow exceptions are made for electronic toll collection.
key points
- The Ban Flock Act targets Flock Safety, which operates over 120,000 ALPR cameras scanning 20 billion vehicles monthly and linking them with personal databases.
- The legislation blocks federal agencies from using ALPRs and cuts off federal funding to state and local municipalities that utilize the technology.
- Commenters point out that the bill includes complex exceptions for tolling and raises questions about whether alternative tracking mechanisms like TPMS sensors will bypass the ban.
who should read it
Privacy advocates, policymakers, and technologists tracking government surveillance and civil liberties.
discussion positive
consensus
Commenters generally support curbing mass surveillance while discussing the bill's technical definitions, enforcement mechanisms, and potential workarounds like monitoring unencrypted tire pressure sensors.
It basically bans use of "automatic license plate readers" and "captured plate data" by the Federal Government unless authorized by Congress or used solely to "assess, bill, collect, audit, dispute, or enforce the payment of a toll".
In the case of use for tolling there are 4 pages of restrictions, disclosure requirements, retention limits and deletion requirements, and security and accountability requirements.
Then a few pages on inadmissibility of evidence obtained in violation of this bill and various means of relief if this is violated.
Next is a section cutting off funding from …
It details the actual structural mechanisms of the proposed bill, including tolling exceptions, evidence inadmissibility, and funding cutoffs.
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