Flock Safety Faces Senate Scrutiny Over AI License Plate Surveillance Network
At a Sept. 24, 2026 Senate hearing, lawmakers scrutinized Flock’s ALPR network, which can retain location data on people not accused of crimes for up to a month. Its CEO declined to testify, while a Florida woman described spending 13 days in jail after a false vehicle match.
A Senate Judiciary subcommittee held a hearing in Washington on September 24, 2026, targeting AI-powered license plate surveillance companies — with Flock Safety drawing the sharpest focus. The CEOs of Flock, Axon, Motorola Solutions, and Verkada all declined to testify, but public interest was high enough that a standby line stretched down the hallway outside the hearing room.
Senate Judiciary crime and counterterrorism subcommittee chair Josh Hawley (R-MO) opened with a pointed remark: “There’s many players in this industry, but there’s one name that really stands out above the rest, and that is Flock. If you haven’t heard of Flock, all I have to say is, Flock’s probably heard of you.”
In place of the absent executives, the hearing featured cybersecurity and legal experts, a sheriff who ended his department’s Flock contract after receiving what he described as unclear answers about the company’s AI use, and a Florida woman who said she spent 13 days in jail after her car was incorrectly identified by Flock cameras as connected to a crime scene.
Lawmakers on both sides of the aisle raised concerns about Flock’s automated license plate readers (ALPRs), which collect location data on Americans not accused of any crime and can store that data for up to a month. Democrats asked how federal immigration authorities could be legally blocked from accessing Flock data, and whether officers could use the system to track people crossing state lines for reproductive care. Sen. Hawley raised parallel concerns for gun owners, noting cameras could be placed near gun shows or stores to build similar profiles.
Cybersecurity engineer Benn Jordan testified that he had previously accessed Flock’s image database with minimal technical effort — an incident Flock says it has since addressed — though he noted broader industry-wide security issues remain.
Despite the charged atmosphere, Hawley acknowledged after the hearing that he had only learned of Flock “a month or two ago” and that Congress is still in early stages of understanding the technology. Whether legislation follows remains unclear, particularly given that President Donald Trump has publicly said he supports the cameras.