Cybersecurity Policy Report, FBI’s Interest in ALPR Surveillance Network Worries House Oversight Democrats, (Oct 6, 2026)
The Federal Bureau of Investigation’s plans to acquire nationwide access to a network of automatic license plate readers (ALPRs) is raising concerns among House Oversight and Government Reform Democrats.
The FBI issued a request for proposal in May “to acquire ALPR systems that offer the ability to search for license plate information ‘and other descriptive data such as vehicle description information, time/date criteria, and geo-location criteria,’” the lawmakers noted in a letter to FBI Director Kash Patel.
“While the FBI already runs a License Plate Reader (LPR) program through the National Crime Information Center (NCIC) to facilitate LPR information sharing with and between its law enforcement partners, the FBI’s plan to obtain direct access to an extensive network of cameras—such as those operated by Flock and Motorola—would dramatically expand the license plate data currently held by the FBI and institute ‘near real time’ surveillance of civilians,” they said.
“Americans’ privacy has already been seriously violated due to the misuse of ALPR data, raising serious concerns about expanding the use of this technology by federal law enforcement agencies,” according to the letter, which was sent on behalf of committee Democrats by Reps. Greg Casar (D., Texas), ranking member of the federal law enforcement subcommittee, and Shontel Brown (D., Ohio), ranking member of the cybersecurity, information technology, and government innovation subcommittee.
“Through law enforcement partnerships with Flock, Motorola, and similar companies, Americans who are not engaged in criminal activity already have their movements and vehicle information stored in databases accessible to law enforcement. This information can be used to create a profile of individuals’ appearance and behavior and has already reportedly been used inappropriately by law enforcement,” they said.
Reps. Casar and Brown asked Director Patel to respond by Oct. 16 with details about how the FBI is using ALPR technology, its plans for future use, how it stores data collected by ALPRs, and a “list of which policies and safeguards the FBI will implement” to prevent abuse and unauthorized access to ALPR tools and data.
“ALPRs deployed across the United States constitute a sprawling, interconnected surveillance network that can be searched across state lines with little oversight,” the lawmakers said. “The FBI’s plan to obtain direct access to this extensive network of cameras raises the risk of a substantial violation of Americans’ privacy. The Committee requests information from the FBI to assist with its oversight of law enforcement’s use of ALPR data.”
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