Cybersecurity Policy Report, Bicameral Legislation Would Ban Federal Use of License Plate Scanners, (Oct 2, 2026)
Federal agencies would be barred from using automatic license plate readers (ALPRs) or data collected by ALPRs under bicameral legislation unveiled today.
The Ban Flock Act (H.R.10691, 119th Cong. (2026)), which is named after Flock Safety, a leading ALPR vendor, was introduced in the House by Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D., N.Y.). A Senate version will be introduced by Sens. Bernie Sanders (I., Vt.) and Jeff Merkley (D., Ore.).
The legislation would prohibit “the head of any Federal agency and any Federal official, in an official capacity, and any person acting on behalf of the Federal Government” from acquiring or using an ALPR or any “captured plate data, including information collected in any database, derived from an automatic license plate reader operated by another entity,” according to its text.
States that do not enact similar bans would lose federal funding under the legislation. But the measure would allow Congress, through additional legislation, to authorize federal agencies to use ALPRs with proper data privacy safeguards, including policies to delete images after 48 hours.
The legislation also would allow the use of ALPRs for the collection of highway tolls. Individuals and state attorneys general would be allowed to sue federal agencies that violate the legislation’s provisions.
“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. AI-powered cameras are keeping track of our every move and weaponizing this data against working people to make record profits. The widespread integration of this technology into American society is unconscionable,” Rep. Ocasio-Cortez said in a news release.
“At a time of growing concern about the unchecked power of artificial intelligence, Flock is eviscerating the very notion of privacy by installing tens of thousands of cameras in communities across America without their consent,” Sen. Sanders said. “Going to the doctor? Flock knows. Dropping your kid off at school? Flock is tracking you. Flock is always watching. 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.”
Concerns about ALPR surveillance have become a bipartisan issue in Congress. Sen. Josh Hawley (R., Mo.), chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee’s crime and counterterrorism subcommittee, has been investigating the ALPR industry and held a hearing on the issue last week (CPR, Sept. 24).
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