Sanders introduces bill to bar federal agencies from using license plate readers

Senator Bernie Sanders introduced the Ban Flock Act on Friday, a bill that would bar federal agencies from using automatic license plate readers (ALPRs) or accessing data gathered by systems operated by local police and private companies.

Despite its name, the bill does not mention Flock in its text. It would cover all ALPR systems, with exceptions for toll collection and uses approved by future legislation. Any such legislation would have to limit data retention to no more than 48 hours.

If enacted, the bill would also penalize state and local governments that do not ban the technology by withholding grants from five federal departments, including the Justice Department and the Department of Homeland Security, starting in the first fiscal year after enactment. Individuals could sue the federal government over violations, and state attorneys general could enforce the law. The bill faces long odds, TechCrunch reports.

Sanders says Flock is the largest ALPR vendor in the United States, with more than 120,000 cameras. The company said in a February blog post that its network processes more than 20 billion vehicle reads each month.

In August, Flock CEO Garrett Langley announced that the company’s default data retention period would fall from 30 days to seven days. Customers must also use an audit tool that locks officers out pending review when it flags unusual searches. Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Senator Jeff Merkley are co-sponsors of the bill.