Cybersecurity Policy Report, House Bill Targets License Plate Readers, Other ‘Intrusive’ Technologies, (Jul 16, 2026)
Organizations Mentioned:Axon Enterprise, Inc. | Transactions Ole, Inc.
Authorities would have to get search warrants before accessing information collected by automated license plate readers (ALPRs) and other “intrusive” technologies under legislation introduced by Rep. Keith Self (R., Texas).
The Protecting Rights in Video and Equipment Acquired Discovery (PRIVACY) Act (H.R. 9716, 119th Cong. (2026)) was introduced yesterday and is co-sponsored by Reps. Eli Crane (R., Ariz.) and Andrew Clyde (R., Ga.).
The legislation focuses on the increasing use of ALPRs and surveillance cameras sold by Flock Safety, Axon Enterprise, Inc., and other vendors.
“Over 6,000 communities in 49 states have installed more than 120,000 Flock, Axon and other manufacturers’ cameras that line our roadways and city parks, tracking Americans more than a billion times a day,” Rep. Self noted in a news release.
“Add in the other technologies such as electronic tracking of cell tower connections, device emissions and wide-area microphones, and no American can avoid the reach of technological tracking,” he said.
The legislation would direct the federal government to develop a list of “intrusive technologies” and require authorities to obtain warrants before accessing data collected by those technologies, he explained.
Data collected by the technologies would have to be deleted after 30 days “unless the data constitutes evidence in a prosecution or a court grants a limited extension,” and the federal government would be barred from using technologies designated as intrusive, he said.
“Americans’ Fourth Amendment right to be secure in their privacy does not disappear just because of new technology or artificial intelligence,” Rep. Self said. “Americans have a constitutional right to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, and our government is supposed to get a warrant before invading that privacy. This bill simply restores that protection. Get a warrant.”
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