Josh Hawley Sounds the Alarm on Flock’s AI Surveillance Cameras 🚨 #joshhawley #flocksafety

Our Take

When a U.S. Senator starts raising red flags about a company's surveillance network on camera, it's worth paying attention — even in a short clip like this one from America Strong Vibes. Josh Hawley isn't exactly known for siding with privacy advocates on every issue, so seeing him call out Flock Safety's AI-driven license plate readers is a sign that concern about this technology has moved well past the usual suspects. It's no longer just civil liberties groups and local activists sounding the alarm; it's elected officials across the political spectrum starting to ask who's watching the watchers.

That matters because Flock's pitch has always been that these cameras are a quiet, uncontroversial tool for local police departments. In reality, thousands of these devices are logging the movements of ordinary people nationwide, often with little public oversight, vague retention policies, and data-sharing agreements that stretch far beyond the town that installed them. When a sitting senator says the quiet part out loud, it validates what we've been documenting for a long time: this is a bipartisan problem, not a partisan talking point.

We don't know yet whether Hawley's comments will translate into real legislative action, but the attention itself is useful. If you want to see how far this network has spread in your own area, check out our camera map, and if you're ready to push back locally, our take-action resources can help you start.