How Flock cameras are becoming an issue in the midterm elections

Controversial automatic license plate readers -- and their most common
camera type, Flock -- have become an emerging political flashpoint in
midterm races across the country with candidates in key races weighing
in on their use. 

Flock is the largest brand of a type of camera called an Automated
License Plate Reader (ALPR), used by governments across the country as
part of law enforcement for everything from catching speeding to
tracking the location of suspects in criminal cases. Flock Safety says
their cameras helped authorities locate more than 10,000 missing people
last year and aided roughly 1 million criminal investigations. 

They have come under fire from privacy advocates and have been
implicated in dozens of allegations of misconduct by police officers
across the country who are accused of accessing the cameras for improper
uses. 

Flock says that they have responded with reforms focused on
"strengthening privacy, accountability, and security." But critics argue
those changes do not go far enough. 

In Michigan, Democratic Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed has an ad
blaming his Republican opponent Mike Rogers, a former member of the
House, for the proliferation of Flock cameras, saying they are part of a
"regime pushed" by Rogers. 

The ad uses video of Rogers defending surveillance from his time as
chairman of the House Select Committee on Intelligence. Rogers left
federal office before Flock cameras were created. 

A spokesperson for Rogers' campaign did not respond to a request for
comment. 

In a key House race in Michigan, the Democratic candidate in the state's
7th Congressional District, William Lawrence has been increasingly vocal
on Flock cameras. He spoke at a Lansing City Council meeting on Aug. 26
in favor of ending Flock contracts, saying that "as the surveillance
network becomes denser, the potential for abuse will grow even greater." 

Last week, the Lansing City Council adopted a resolution to end all
contracts with Flock safety and cease use of its 26 cameras in the city.
The mayor must now approve any change. 

Lawrence's Republican opponent, Rep. Tom Barrett, has "serious concerns"
about the way governments have utilized technology to surveil citizens,
according to a statement from Barrett's spokesman. 

"State and local governments should engage with their residents on those
decisions but that should include full transparency. The federal
government should not be making these decisions for local communities,"
the spokesman said in the statement. 

Barrett subsequently announced his support for legislation that would
bar federal agencies from purchasing these license plate-reading
systems. 

The issue has also emerged in neighboring Wisconsin, with both
candidates in the highly competitive gubernatorial race saying they
oppose the use of Flock cameras. 

Democratic candidate Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley issued a
directive on Tuesday to limit camera operations in the county. His
campaign said that as governor, he would work to "implement strict
transparency and accountability laws that ensure Wisconsinites are not
spied on." 

His Republican opponent, Rep. Tom Tiffany, criticized Crowley’s response
as insufficient. In a statement to ABC News, Tiffany's campaign said
Crowley's "answer has always been to give government more power to watch
you." Tiffany also vowed to pause all state funding to Flock cameras if
elected and conduct a "task force to establish stronger privacy
protections" and "penalties for misuse." 

In deep-red Texas, Democratic governor candidate Gina Hinojosa released
an ad attacking the state's Republican Gov. Greg Abbott for approving a
state budget that allocated funds to the Texas Department of Public
Safety to purchase Flock cameras. Three days later, Abbott ordered that
no state funds be used to purchase Flock cameras. 

Abbot spoke about the public backlash to the cameras on a podcast the
day of the announcement, citing incidents of misuse of the technology
and saying that the cameras are "going to be required to be used
responsibly if they’re used at all." 

There appears to be an appetite for regulation of the cameras on a
federal level. Independent Sen. Bernie Sanders said that he will soon
introduce legislation to "stop Flock and AI mass surveillance." 

"We cannot allow America to become a surveillance state where a handful
of AI oligarchs profit by giving the government the power to track our
every movement," Sanders said last month. 

Axios reported GOP Sen. Josh Hawley, the chair of the Judiciary
Subcommittee on Crime and Counterterrorism, wrote a letter to the CEO of
Flock Safety Garrett Langley that Congress "never authorized the network
your industry has built." 

In the House, several bills have been introduced to defund or restrict
the use of federal funds for the cameras including the "Flock-Off Act." 

Asked about the backlash against their cameras and the prospect of
government regulation, a Flock spokesperson told ABC News, "Flock’s
technology is an important public safety tool for law enforcement
agencies across America, helping officers solve serious crimes and find
missing people. We support thoughtful, bipartisan legislation that puts
strong privacy, transparency, and accountability guardrails in place
while preserving law enforcement’s ability to use technology responsibly
to keep people safe." 

Asked about Flock cameras on Aug. 18, President Donald Trump said he was
"studying" the issue and the administration would "have an answer as to
our views on it over the next couple of weeks." When asked to clarify,
the White House had no new comment on the issue. 

Tech privacy experts have been challenging the use of these cameras in
court for nearly a decade. Karen Gullo, senior writer for free speech
and privacy at Electronic Frontier Foundation, a nonprofit advocating
for digital rights and internet civil liberties, argued that the
indiscriminate nature of the cameras has contributed to their
unpopularity. 

Gullo said "camera networks are mass surveillance, and so you know
they're not only trained on certain people; they're trained on everyone,
and it doesn't matter your ideological bent." 

The public outcry against the cameras comes as backlash against big tech
has become a rallying cry across the political spectrum -- from
widespread opposition to data center construction to lawsuits against
major social media companies for alleged harms to children. 

A Gallup poll released in July found that 20% of Americans are confident
in large technology companies -- a record low dating back to 2020. That
same poll found that public faith in Congress fared even worse -- with
only 9% of Americans expressing confidence. 

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