AOC and Bernie Sanders introduce bill to ban license plate readers: ‘Flock is always watching’

AOC and Bernie Sanders introduce bill to ban license plate readers: ‘Flock is always watching’ Privacy concerns with the surveillance technology have prompted calls from people across the country to remove icense plate readers from their streets - Bookmark - CommentsGo to comments Become an Independent member to bookmark this article Already a member? Log in Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Senator Bernie Sanders have teamed up again to introduce a bill to ban automatic license-plate readers after police officers have been accused of misusing the technology. Ocasio-Cortez, Sanders and fellow progressive Senator Jeff Merkley of Oregon released the Ban Flock Act on Friday to prohibit federal agencies from using the license-plate readers, often called Flock cameras after one of the tech companies that makes them. “Going to the doctor? Flock knows. Dropping your kid off at school? Flock is tracking you. Flock is always watching,” Sanders said in a press release. “We cannot allow America to become a surveillance state where a handful of AI oligarchs profit by giving the government the power to track our every movement.” Flock cameras have been getting a lot of flak over reported misuse by police who are entrusted to use the data to track down suspected criminals or find missing people. At least 50 law enforcement officers were charged with or accused of misusing Flock cameras and other surveillance systems, including to stalk women, The Washington Post reported in August. In that month alone, more than 50 cities across the country either canceled or rejected contracts for automated license-plate readers or deactivated the cameras, according to DeFlock, an anti-surveillance crowdsourcing app. “Across the country, Big Tech companies like Flock Safety have built a mass surveillance system to harvest Americans’ private and personal data without their consent,” Ocasio-Cortez said in the press release. “The widespread integration of this technology into American society is unconscionable.” The Ban Flock Act would also target state and local authorities using the technology by blocking federal funding to their governments. If the bill passed Congress, it would also allow Americans to sue the federal government for violating their rights with the license-plate readers. Flock has defended its technology, saying in an August blog post, “Today, Flock technology assists your officers in more than one million crimes solved annually.” But the company also told The Independent Friday that it “strongly supports legislation establishing guardrails governing License Plate Reader use.” “We welcome these conversations in Congress because we believe public safety technologies are powerful tools best used in concert with strong policy, accountability and oversight mechanisms.” Flock announced several privacy updates in August amid the backlash, which include requiring all law enforcement customers to adopt its Audit Assistance by the end of the year. This feature detects and flags abnormal activity, which, the company said at the time, led to the arrest of several officers who allegedly abused the system. Republican Senator Josh Hawley of Missouri announced Wednesday that he would introduce the Stop Flock Abuse Act, which would create federal guardrails around the technology, instead of banning it altogether. The bill would prohibit local governments from selling or sharing data they collect from the cameras to non-government third parties and ban automated license-plate reader networks from incorporating facial recognition, which Hawley said was “ripe for abuse with AI.” A Flock official told The Independent that the company does not operate facial recognition technology and that it is impossible to search specifically for humans in photos taken by its license-plate readers. Hawley’s bill would also require agencies to keep track of who searched for what data, why they searched it and who approved it. “Supervisors must audit those logs on a regular basis, monitoring for red flags, such as repeat searches of the same person or suspicious justifications,” read a press release from Hawley’s office. Hawley called the automated license-plate readers “a nightmare for individual liberties unless Congress enacts meaningful rules and accountability,” in the press release. “Law-abiding Americans should not be treated like criminals.” Join our commenting forum Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies Comments