Bipartisan bills seek limits on Flock and other ALPRs

Lawmakers proposed two bills to restrict Flock and other license-plate readers through retention rules, a facial-recognition ban, and federal funding limits.

U.S. lawmakers from both parties have proposed two bills to restrict automated license-plate reader networks, chiefly Flock Safety; The Record says the measures would also cover Motorola and Axon, and Malwarebytes says neither proposal has been enacted. Sen. Josh Hawley's Stop Flock Abuse Act would require written approval for searches, encryption, limits on sharing or sale to non-government parties, and a facial-recognition ban, with deletion after 10 days; Malwarebytes adds supervisor audits, search records, and U.S.-only storage and describes deletion of most vehicle-location data, while 404 Media says driver data would be deleted after ten days except in active investigations and frames the rule as a ban on adding facial recognition. A second bill, called the Ban Flock Act by Malwarebytes and 404 Media but unnamed by The Record, is attributed by The Record and 404 Media to Sens. Bernie Sanders and Jeff Merkley and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez; it would bar federal ALPR use—Malwarebytes also says or their data—and withhold related federal money, though sources differ on whether that applies to states or to state and local governments. Malwarebytes and 404 Media say that bill would allow lawsuits, with 404 Media specifying suits over rights violations, and 404 Media reports sponsors cited police Flock searches for ICE, cameras around protests, and a Texas officer's nationwide search for a woman who self-administered an abortion. Only The Record reports that researcher Joshua Michael mapped about 300,000 Flock-connected devices against the company's 120,000-camera figure and alleged a November 2025 unauthenticated GIS access token exposed location data without a login. The outlets agree on the bills' broad aims but differ on the second bill's name, funding recipients, deletion exceptions, storage rules, and the researcher allegations.

• Sen. Josh Hawley's Stop Flock Abuse Act would require written search approval, encryption, limits on sharing or sale to non-government parties, a facial-recognition ban, and deletion after 10 days; Malwarebytes adds audits, search records,…
• Malwarebytes and 404 Media name a second proposal the Ban Flock Act; The Record and 404 Media attribute it to Sens. Bernie Sanders and Jeff Merkley and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, while The Record does not name the bill.
• The Ban Flock Act would bar federal ALPR use—Malwarebytes also says or their data—and withhold related federal money; The Record says from states, while Malwarebytes and 404 Media say state and local governments, and those two say it would…
• Malwarebytes says neither bill has been enacted; the other outlets do not address enactment.
• The Record says the proposed rules would also cover Motorola and Axon, not only Flock Safety.
• The Record alone reports researcher Joshua Michael mapped about 300,000 Flock-connected devices against Flock's 120,000-camera figure and alleged a November 2025 unauthenticated GIS token exposed location data without login.
• 404 Media says sponsors cited local police Flock searches for ICE, camera use around protests, and a Texas officer's nationwide search for a woman who self-administered an abortion.