Bipartisan backlash to ALPRs grows as two high-profile bills are introduced

What happened

Josh Hawley (R-MO) introduced the Stop Flock Abuse Act to bolster safeguards for AI-enabled cameras and protect people’s constitutional rights. Alexandria Ocasio Cortez (D-NY), introduced a broader bill Friday, proposing to block the federal government from using ALPR cameras and prevent states deploying them from receiving federal funding.

It also would let Americans sue the federal government if their rights are violated by deployment of ALPRs, according to a press release . In addition to signaling the striking bipartisan nature of the accelerating outcry over the cameras, the proposed bills would apply to all ALPR camera companies, including Motorola and Axon.

Josh Hawley has new legislation on limiting automated license plate readers (ALPRs), while Democratic Sens. Bernie Sanders and Jeff Merkley, with Rep.

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, have teed up a broader bill. “Going to the doctor? Flock knows,” Sanders said in a statement. Privacy and civil liberties activists have long worried that the intensifying public uproar over Flock — which has maintained a higher public profile than its competitors — has left companies with very similar practices off the hook.

Key facts

• Josh Hawley (R-MO) — introduced: the Stop Flock Abuse Act to bolster safeguards for AI-enabled cameras and protect people’s constitutional rights
• Alexandria Ocasio Cortez (D-NY), — introduced: a broader bill Friday, proposing to block the federal government from using ALPR cameras and prevent states deploying them from receiving federal funding