Congress Is FINALLY Banning Flock Cameras?!
The short version: A new bill from Rep. Tim Burchett would choke off federal funding for Flock Safety cameras and ALPRs — a real crack in the surveillance dam worth watching closely.
Our Take
Credit to The Alliance for Secure AI for putting a spotlight on something we've been saying for a while: the fastest way to slow the spread of ALPR networks isn't just local pushback, it's cutting the money pipeline. Rep. Tim Burchett's bill targeting federal funding for Flock Safety cameras and license plate readers is a meaningful signal that this issue has finally crossed the partisan divide in Washington. Surveillance fatigue doesn't care about party lines when the conversation shifts from 'crime-fighting tool' to 'warrantless tracking database.'
We'll believe it when we see a floor vote, but the fact that a member of Congress is willing to attach his name to defunding Flock is notable on its own. These systems expanded largely because grant money made them nearly free for local police departments to adopt — no public debate, no procurement fight, just federal dollars smoothing the way. Pull that funding lever and a lot of small-town Flock contracts start looking a lot less attractive to city councils that never really weighed the privacy tradeoffs in the first place.
Bills die in committee all the time, so don't mistake introduction for victory. The real fight is still local: which departments have cameras, who's watching the footage, and whether your city council even knows what they signed up for. Check our camera map to see what's already watching your streets, and if you want to push back before Congress finishes arguing, our take-action page has the tools to start now.
This is DeFlock The USA’s original commentary. The video above is the work of The Alliance for Secure AI, published on YouTube — full credit to the creator.