Senate panel presses Flock over AI-driven license plate surveillance

Senators from both parties aired civil-liberties worries about Flock’s data-rich network as they weigh how to regulate automated plate readers.

A US Senate Judiciary subcommittee held a high‑profile hearing scrutinizing Flock’s nationwide network of automated license plate readers and its broader “AI Surveillance Network.” Senators from both parties raised civil-liberties concerns about mass collection and month‑long retention of location data on people not suspected of crimes, and about how easily law enforcement can query that data. Flock’s CEO, along with CEOs from Axon, Motorola Solutions, and Verkada, declined to testify, leaving security experts, a sheriff who canceled a Flock contract, and a woman wrongly jailed after a misidentification to describe risks and failures. Lawmakers questioned how agencies like federal immigration authorities or out‑of‑state police might exploit the system via local intermediaries to track people seeking abortions, gun owners, and other sensitive groups. Subcommittee chair Josh Hawley suggested more direct CEO testimony or subpoenas could follow as Congress “gets up to speed” on regulating ALPR systems like Flock’s.