14:01Machine-translated from Azerbaijani by AIRead in Azerbaijani
US Senators Propose Ban on License Plate-Reading Cameras for Federal Agencies
US Senators Bernie Sanders and Jeff Merkley introduced a bill called the Ban Flock Act on Friday. The bill is intended to stop federal agencies from using cameras that employ artificial intelligence to read license plates automatically. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez will introduce the legislation in the House of Representatives. The initiative was drafted following concerns about the Flock Safety system tracking drivers’ movements across the country.
These cameras, known as ALPRs, photograph license plates and process information related to vehicles. If the bill passes, federal agencies will not be allowed to use these cameras or access data collected by other systems. State and local agencies that contract with companies developing such technologies will also be ineligible for federal grants. The legislation would give citizens whose rights have been violated the right to sue the federal government.
Flock Safety is considered the largest provider of automatic license plate-reading systems in the US. The company has installed more than 120,000 cameras across the country. According to reports, this network records 20 billion vehicles per month. Records from one seized roadside camera showed that more than 50,000 vehicles were photographed over roughly 3 weeks. This produced 1.6 million images.
Critics say the system sometimes misidentifies vehicles and that the data is used for immigration enforcement. According to Sanders, Flock Safety passed data it obtained from states to federal immigration agencies. Police have also used the database to investigate pro-Palestinian activists and No Kings protests. The possibility that the cameras could track women traveling to another state for an abortion has also raised concerns.
Although the bill has attracted interest from both parties, it is not expected to pass anytime soon. Republican Senator Josh Hawley has separately announced that he is drafting a bill called the Stop Flock Abuse Act. Both initiatives are expected to be delayed until after the midterm elections in November. Their fate will depend on the balance of power in Congress. Sanders said the cameras can even determine whether people are going to a doctor or a school. The senator called the system a threat to privacy.