A Senate Judiciary Subcommittee hearing held on September 23 focused on surveillance tech company Flock Safety, revealing bipartisan concerns over the use of automatic license plate readers (ALPR) by the company. Senators Josh Hawley and Cory Booker questioned how ALPR data could be used to track individuals based on political affiliations or activities, such as attending pro-life events or seeking abortion services in other states. Chad Marlow from the ACLU confirmed that these systems are currently being utilized for extensive surveillance purposes beyond just tracking vehicle movements.
Written locally by qwen2.5:14b on 2026-10-01,
using this article's own text rather than the other coverage of the
same event (that is the story summary below).
Story summary
In recent months, Flock Safety, an AI camera company that uses automatic license plate readers, has become a source of widespread controversy in America. While Americans are typically divided on many political issues, there is growing consensus against Flock Safety across diverse groups and political affiliations. The debate escalated around late August when politicians such as Governor Ron DeSantis (R-FL) and Senator Bernie Sanders (I-VT) began speaking out against the company. On September 23, a Senate Judiciary Subcommittee meeting chaired by Senator Josh Hawley (R-MO) further highlighted this bipartisan opposition, with Hawley noting Flock’s ability to track vehicles based on political affiliations and bumper stickers. This unusual unity among Americans, despite their usual disagreements, underscores the significant concerns surrounding surveillance technology and privacy issues raised by Flock Safety's operations.
Written for “Hate For AI Camera Company” on 2026-10-05,
grounded in this article and the 0 other(s) covering the same event.
Americans are divided more than ever.
asserted
Americans → divide → ?
Do we have the right to bear arms?
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we → have → arms
Do women have the right to an abortion?
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women → have → abortion
Should masks still be required in lesbian bars in 2026?
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masks → require → 2026
Americans can’t agree on anything.
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Americans → agree → anything
Some aren’t even sure if they should have friends who vote differently.
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who → have → friends
More than a few maintain political litmus tests for Thanksgiving.
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few → maintain → Thanksgiving
Yet, as bleak as all this may sound, there’s one company doing its darnedest to bring Americans together — and that company’s name is Flock.
uncertain
name → sound → Americans
Yes, in these turbulent times, surveillance tech vendor Flock Safety has emerged as the hero America needs, uniting a divided people in their distrust of, well, Flock Safety.
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America → emerge → Safety
On Sept. 23, this unity was on full display at a Senate Judiciary Subcommittee meeting at which Sen. Josh Hawley (R-MO) led a bipartisan hearing, setting the tone during his opening remarks: “Flock can tell you if a car has a Trump sticker or a Harris sticker or a Pro-Life America sticker or an [National Rifle Association] sticker.”
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car → lead → sticker
Later, during an exchange with Hawley, Alasdair Whitney of the Institute for Justice detailed how automatic license plate readers have been “placed in front of attorney’s offices, medical facilities, churches, mosques, other places of worship,” and described how allowing the government to have access to such information was something about which Americans should be concerned.
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Americans → detail → which
Upon receiving a question from Sen. Cory Booker (D-NJ) regarding whether ALPRs coupled with artificial intelligence could be used to find women who traveled across state lines for an abortion, Chad Marlow of the American Civil Liberties Union replied, “You can literally prompt AI to say, I want to find people who are leaving my state and seeking abortion care somewhere else where it remains legal and the AI … will look for patterns [of] who went to a doctor and then to a drug store in the state [where abortion is legal] and then returned to the state where it was illegal.”
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it → receive → state
Understanding the implications of this, Hawley, rather than turning the hearing into a debate about abortion, followed up with Marlow, “I’m just thinking for those of us who are supporters of the Second Amendment, we’ve long feared national databases of any kind.
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we → understand → kind
You could easily put these cameras up in front of a gun show or near a gun store or a range …
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You → put → store
and you can do all the same things …
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you → do → things
You can query all the same?”
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You → query → same
“The only thing incorrect about what you said, senator, was you said ‘could,’” Marlow replied.
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Marlow → say → what
“You should say ‘are.’
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You → say → ?
They’re doing all those things right now.”
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They → do → things
For those who’ve been following the threat of mass surveillance, such assertions about the capabilities of ALPRs to identify a person’s political leanings or categorize them based on their participation in activities that may be stigmatized or legal in some states but not others come as no surprise.
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that → follow → surprise
It’s well-documented that ALPRs have been used to monitor attendees of political rallies, gun shows, and protests.
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ALPRs → document → rallies
But the common ground politicians and everyday Americans have found on the topic of Flock cameras is more recent, as most only became aware of them over the summer, while politicians didn’t really take notice till late August, with the likes of Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL) and Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) coming out against them.
However, now that a group diverse enough to include Hawley and Booker, DeSantis and Sanders, gun owners and abortion activists has been brought together, I think we have no choice but to acknowledge this as a beautiful thing and collectively say thank you Flock for uniting us in our shared outrage against you.
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we → find → you
He earned his doctorate in biology in 2025.
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He → earn → 2025
The Aporia
