Politics · Senate Judiciary probeSenate Investigates Flock's Massive License Plate NetworkAired August 29, 2026 at 7:16 PM UTCWritten September 7, 2026 at 9:22 PM UTCRead the write-upThis storyTranscript · LOADING0:0020 billion vehicle movements a month, tracked by a single private company.0:04Congress never authorized that network, and now a senator is demanding answers.0:08Can a company's own rules be the only safeguard for hundreds of millions of0:12Americans?0:13Flock Safety's cameras log more than 20 billion license plate scans every month.0:18The network spans more than 120,000 cameras across 49 states.0:25Senator Hawley, chair of the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Crime and0:28Counterterrorism, sent a letter to Flock CEO Garrett Langley on August 26th,0:33ordering all documents on data collection, retention, and sharing by September 8th.0:38No statute gave Flock this reach.0:40The company's internal policies are the only safeguards for hundreds of millions of0:44Americans.0:44Isaac spent 13 days in jail facing eight felonies, including three counts of0:49vehicular homicide.0:50The charges were dropped after another driver was arrested.0:53Troopers searched Flock for a black Durango despite a 911 caller describing a maroon0:58one.0:58In St.0:59Charles County, Missouri, police dropped Flock on August 20th after a new audit tool1:03flagged a civilian employee who ran plate searches for personal reasons.1:07About 28 cameras were bagged.1:09The department was not satisfied with Flock's audit process.1:12In Milwaukee, Officer Shosue Ayala faced charges for running his partner's plate 1241:17times and a former partner's 55 times.1:20He wasn't caught by Flock's audits.1:22One of the people searched reported it.1:24He later resigned and pleaded guilty.1:26The 71% rate applies to alerts, not all scans.1:29No misread led to a stop or arrest because officers verify plates.1:33LAPD let its contract expire in July after 161 alerts that didn't lead to stolen1:38vehicles.1:38Flock attributes the Roseville figure to camera placement.1:41Flock has no contract with ICE and does not share customer data on its own.1:45But federal customers, national parks, Veterans Affairs hospitals, military bases1:50can share data with other agencies where local rules allow.1:52A company presentation referenced a six-month ICE pilot that ended in May 2025.1:57Political pressure is building from both sides.2:00Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders called for legislation to stop Flock and AI mass2:04surveillance and plans to introduce a bill soon.2:07Florida Governor Ron DeSantis called the readers out of control.2:10Tempe, Arizona turned its system off, with Mayor Corey Woods citing the risk of2:14misuse.2:15Holly leads the investigation while Langley must respond.2:18Sanders and DeSantis are pushing back from different directions.2:21Flock's spokesperson said the company received the letter and would respond2:25directly.2:26The network has aided roughly 1 million investigations and helped find about 10,0002:30missing people.2:31Flock cut its default retention from 30 to 7 days, but the ACLU wants a 48-hour cap2:37and warns that evidence mode could keep location data around indefinitely.2:40The next test is September 8th, when Flock must produce the documents.2:45Sanders has not yet filed a bill.2:47The letter demands all documents on data collection, retention, and sharing.2:53This network is now the subject of a congressional investigation.2:58On August 13th, Flock cut default data retention to seven days and added audit3:03assistance and required case codes.3:05St.3:05Charles County is a live test.3:07It caught one employee, then dropped Flock anyway because it still couldn't easily3:11audit the full search history.3:12The unresolved question is whether the company's own policy is the only guardrail.3:17Holly's premise, that no statute authorizes a private network to track hundreds of3:21millions of vehicles, faces its first real test when the September 8th deadline3:26passes and when Sanders bill is actually introduced.3:28Whether a network built by one private company can survive having its own search3:32data audited by the people using it is the question that decides what these 120,0003:36cameras end up being.Explore with HeyDexThe shortThe short ↗