Minnesota lawmakers reintroduce bill on flock cameras
The short version: KTTC reports Minnesota lawmakers are reintroducing a bill to rein in access to Flock camera data, a small but important check on unaccountable ALPR surveillance.
Our Take
Credit to KTTC and capital reporter Quinn Gorham for keeping a spotlight on this: Minnesota legislators are once again trying to set rules for who can access the mountain of location data Flock's license plate readers vacuum up every day. The fact that this bill needs to be reintroduced at all tells you how slowly accountability moves compared to how fast these camera networks are expanding across small towns and big cities alike.
This is the pattern we keep seeing nationwide: police departments and private vendors deploy ALPR networks first, and lawmakers scramble afterward to figure out basic questions like who can query the data, how long it's retained, and whether other agencies or even out-of-state actors can tap in. Without clear statutory limits, 'access to information' can mean anything from a single detective's lawful search to bulk data-sharing arrangements that turn a town's cameras into a surveillance dragnet.
Minnesota residents should be watching this bill closely and showing up when it gets a hearing, because silence gets read as consent. Check our map to see what's already watching your own streets, and visit our take-action page for ways to push your local council or state reps on the same questions Minnesota is finally asking.
This is DeFlock The USA’s original commentary. The video above is the work of KTTC, published on YouTube — full credit to the creator.