Description
Like the data centers cropping up across the country, automated license plate readers (ALPRs) like Flock have inspired fierce bipartisan backlash.
In the lead-up to today’s election, both Republicans and Democrats in battleground states like Florida, Michigan and Pennsylvania have wooed voters by promising to place guardrails on unregulated surveillance technologies.
After a summer of controversies—ranging from reports about police misusing ALPRs to stalk their exes to a report of cops tracking an abortion-seeker across state lines—communities are speaking out about the erosion of privacy and civil liberties, and pressuring lawmakers to cancel contracts and remove the cameras, or even ban them altogether.
At the same time, congressional candidates and sitting legislators across the political spectrum are calling to rework the patchwork regulatory system that governs the cameras. At least four different congressional bills were introduced in September alone that would limit ALPR use. And after the midterms, a new bipartisan batch of legislators could help push federal regulations on ALPRs forward.
Politicians of all stripes suddenly seem to think that they need to get Flock out of here.
Read the full report here: https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2026/10/flock-cameras-midterm-elections-democrats-republicans-alpr-axon-motorola/