Bernie Sanders Introduces Bill to Ban Federal Use of Flock and All License Plate Readers
Despite its name, the Ban Flock Act would cover every automatic license plate reader, not just Flock, with future exceptions capped at 48-hour data retention. Noncompliant jurisdictions could lose grants from five federal departments.
Senator Bernie Sanders introduced legislation in October 2026 that would prohibit federal agencies from using automatic license plate readers (ALPRs) or accessing data collected by local police and private ALPR operators. The bill, called the Ban Flock Act, was introduced on Friday and is co-sponsored by Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) and Senator Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.).
Despite its name, the bill’s text does not single out Flock Safety by name and applies to all ALPR systems. Exceptions would be permitted only for toll collection and for uses explicitly approved by future congressional legislation, which would need to cap data retention at no more than 48 hours.
The bill would also apply financial pressure to state and local governments. Starting in the first fiscal year after enactment, jurisdictions that fail to ban the technology would lose grants from five federal departments, including the Justice Department and the Department of Homeland Security. Americans would be able to sue the federal government over violations, and state attorneys general could enforce the law.
Flock is the largest ALPR vendor in the United States, according to Sanders, operating more than 120,000 cameras and processing over 20 billion vehicle reads per month, figures the company cited in a February blog post. The company has faced growing backlash from communities protesting, suspending, and canceling its contracts. In response, Flock reduced its default data retention period from 30 days to seven days in August and introduced an audit tool that locks officers out of the platform pending review when unusual search activity is flagged.
In one notable abuse case, a former Milwaukee officer pleaded guilty to misconduct after using Flock’s platform to search for his then-partner and her ex 179 times. Flock CEO Garrett Langley has said a two-person search approval system is under consideration.
Like most legislation, the Ban Flock Act faces long odds of becoming law.