Overview
- The Ban Flock Act was introduced on October 2, 2026 by Rep. Alexandria Ocasio‑Cortez, Sen. Bernie Sanders and Sen. Jeff Merkley to stop federal agencies from using automated license‑plate readers, commonly called ALPRs.
- The bill would withhold grants from several federal departments for state and local governments that continue to use ALPRs, naming the Departments of Justice, Transportation, Health and Human Services, Housing and Urban Development, and Homeland Security as funding sources at risk.
- The measure allows a narrow toll‑collection exception, would require any other future federal uses to be approved by Congress with strict retention limits, and would let citizens and state attorneys general sue the federal government for violations.
- Supporters say the bill responds to reporting and probes that found officer misuse, wrongful arrests and large device‑level image stores, and to technical findings about on‑device data; Flock Safety says it operates roughly 120,000 cameras, has reduced default retention to seven days, and added an audit tool.
- Passage faces long odds before midterm campaigning and is competing with narrower, bipartisan proposals that would impose warrants, audit logs and shorter retention windows while many cities and states already pause, remove, or audit ALPR contracts.