Congress is introducing a Flock-Off Act amid privacy concerns
The short version: KENS 5 reports a new congressional bill aiming to pull federal funding from license plate readers and other surveillance cameras, a direct shot at Flock's business model.
Our Take
KENS 5's segment flags something we've been waiting for: Congress finally eyeing the money pipeline that's fueled the explosion of ALPR networks nationwide. A lot of these camera deployments aren't paid for by local taxpayers scrutinizing a city council agenda — they're subsidized through federal grant programs that local police departments tap into with little public debate. Cutting that funding off doesn't ban the cameras outright, but it forces the question communities should've been asking all along: do we actually want to pay for this surveillance infrastructure?
We don't have the bill text in front of us, so we're not going to pretend to know every provision or its odds of passing. What we do know is that federal-level scrutiny of companies like Flock Safety is a sign the conversation is shifting from "smart city tech" to "unaccountable surveillance network." That shift doesn't happen without local reporting like this putting it in front of regular viewers who had no idea their plate was being logged every time they drove to the grocery store.
Credit to KENS 5 for covering this instead of burying it. If you want to see how dense this camera network already is in your own neighborhood, check our map, and if you'd rather not wait on Congress to act, our take-action page has steps you can push at the local level right now.
This is DeFlock The USA’s original commentary. The video above is the work of KENS 5: Your San Antonio News Source, published on YouTube — full credit to the creator.