US Judge Rules Flock Search Was Mass Surveillance. Bernie Sanders Proposes 'Ban Flock Act'
Flock's cameras offer "indiscriminate mass surveillance," a U.S. federal judge wrote in a ruling Thursday, as does any system with "continuously updated" location histories for all the vehicles filmed by automated license plate-reading cameras. The judge's ruling included italics for emphasis when describing "the question of why is it the government's business where everyone goes all the time?"…
A federal judge determined that Flock's cameras constitute indiscriminate mass surveillance. Judge Hill emphasized the issue of why it is the government's business to know where everyone goes all the time. The judge deemed it constitutionally problematic for law enforcement to passively catalog an individual's whereabouts over an extended period and then use that information at their discretion.
The judge also granted a motion to suppress all evidence obtained due to the unconstitutional searches and seizures. Flock's spokesperson stated that the ruling will likely be appealed and ultimately overturned. Meanwhile, U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders introduced the Ban Flock Act, a proposed bill that bans federal agencies from using automated license plate reader systems without explicit statutory authorization.
The bill also allows certain federal agencies to withhold grant money from states and local governments that use automatic license plate readers.
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