Sanders Proposes Federal Ban on License Plate Reader Technology

Senator Bernie Sanders introduced legislation that would prohibit federal agencies from using automatic license plate readers, regardless of vendor, with limited exceptions for toll collection. The bill would penalize state and local governments financially if they fail to comply, potentially affecting grants from the Justice Department and Department of Homeland Security. The proposal targets technology used extensively by Flock, which operates over 120,000 cameras nationwide and processes billions of vehicle readings monthly.

Senator Sanders' proposed legislation represents an escalation in federal oversight of automated license plate reading technology. The measure would create financial consequences for state and local governments that continue deploying these systems, leveraging federal grant allocations from major departments as enforcement mechanisms. This approach shifts responsibility upward while maintaining narrow exceptions for toll infrastructure, suggesting a middle ground between complete prohibition and unrestricted use.

Flock's technological dominance—operating the largest network of readers with processing capacity exceeding 20 billion monthly vehicle scans—has made it the focal point of privacy concerns. The company has responded to mounting pressure by implementing stricter data retention defaults and access controls, though documented cases of officer misuse persist, indicating that technical safeguards alone may not adequately address governance challenges inherent to surveillance infrastructure.