Overview
- The Florida Department of Transportation revoked approvals for automated license‑plate readers on state highway rights‑of‑way and said it will remove any devices left after the 30‑day deadline.
- On Monday, Aug. 31, 2026 the memo cited an “exponential increase” in deployments and pointed to documented officer misuse, data‑sharing concerns, and surveillance risks as the reasons for immediate action.
- Several sheriff’s offices and city governments in Northeast and Central Florida announced they would suspend or disconnect Flock and other ALPR systems in response, and some municipalities voted to remove cameras outright.
- Flock Safety has rolled out mandatory audit tools, required case‑code searches for most queries, and shortened its default data retention from 30 days to seven days as part of its response to the backlash.
- The memo applies only to state highway rights‑of‑way and does not ban cameras on local roads or private property, but the order has shifted the debate to the Florida Legislature and other regulators over retention limits, access rules, and enforcement.