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By Amanda Greenwood
Associate News Editor
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A Florida congressman has revealed new legislation that’s aimed at restricting the government's use of automated license plate reader (ALPR) technology, as fresh scrutiny falls on the true scale of Flock Safety's nationwide surveillance network and efforts to remove a map showing the locations of hundreds of thousands of devices.
Representative Greg Steube, a Republican from Florida, introduced the Facilitating Liberty and Accountability for Flock Observations (FLAFO) Act on September 24.
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The bill would prevent federal agencies from purchasing, leasing, operating, accessing, or sharing data from networked ALPR systems without securing a warrant first.
It would also make sure that if state, local, or tribal police departments want to receive certain federal Justice Department grants, they would have to adopt privacy rules similar to the ones required by the FLAFO Act to get the funding.
In a statement released by his office, Steube said the legislation was designed to curb what he described as the growing use of surveillance technology to monitor Americans' movements without individualized suspicion.
"The Fourth Amendment is not optional. Americans should not be tracked everywhere they drive without a warrant," Steube said. "Flock Safety’s surveillance network is expansive, and we have seen several instances across the country where this technology is too easily abused."
Flock Safety CEO Garrett Langley told Newsweek in a video interview that Flock's "end goal isn’t a dystopian future of surveillance; it’s one where we all feel safe." He said that transparency and accountability are central to the company's approach.
Newsweek has messaged Steube for comment and is awaiting a response.
Why the Bill Was Introduced
According to Steube, the legislation was prompted by concerns that modern ALPR systems have evolved from helpful, localized crime-fighting tools into large-scale surveillance networks that can track vehicle movements across multiple law enforcement agencies.
He argues that advances in AI and machine learning allow these systems to pull together detailed records of individuals' movements, associations and routines—without their consent and sometimes without any reason to do so.
Steube also pointed to reported cases in Florida, Indiana, Illinois, and Wisconsin in which officers allegedly misused ALPR databases for unauthorized searches or to look up, follow, or keep tabs on people they personally know, rather than for a legitimate law enforcement reason, arguing that those incidents show why stronger safeguards, such as the FLAFO Act, are needed.
Flock Safety, headquartered in Atlanta, is the dominant player in the ALPR market, accounting for more than 80 percent of such systems in use nationwide, according to Steube's office.
While the FLAFO Act would apply to all ALPR systems, the legislation appears to be largely aimed at Flock and its rapidly expanding camera network, hence the title "Facilitating Liberty and Accountability for Flock Observations."
Newsweek has also contacted Flock Safety by email for comment about this and is awaiting a response.
Map Raises New Questions About Flock’s Reach
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Steube's proposal comes days after cybersecurity researcher Joshua Michael published an interactive map that he says shows more than 300,000 Flock-linked surveillance devices across the United States, including more than 170,000 cameras and roughly 130,000 additional pieces of supporting equipment.
The map, known as the "Flock Surveillance Map," was created using location data that Michael said came from a snapshot of Flock's own records that was archived in December 2025.
Unlike crowdsourced projects, such as DeFlock, that rely on public submissions noting where ALPRs are located, Michael's map is based on data that he says was extracted directly from the company’s actual system after he discovered a vulnerability that exposed information about where the devices were located.
In a report published by The Intercept, Michael said the map illustrates what he views as a nationwide surveillance network capable of tracking vehicle movements on a massive scale.
Newsweek has reached out to Michael by email for comment and is awaiting a response.
These findings have fueled a heated debate about the true size of Flock's network.
According to The Intercept, Flock Safety told reporters earlier this year that it operates more than 120,000 cameras nationwide, but Michael's research identified more than 170,000 cameras along with thousands of associated devices, including acoustic sensors and networking equipment.
Efforts to Remove Michael’s Flock Surveillance Map
The map has also become the subject of a takedown dispute.
According to The Intercept, Michael created the map after discovering that an access token tied to Flock Safety's systems could be obtained without logging in. Michael said the token allowed him to query geographic data through a third-party mapping platform used by Flock, and identify the locations of thousands of devices across the country.
He told the publication that he reported the issue to Flock in November 2025 and followed up with them repeatedly before eventually receiving a response acknowledging the findings.
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Michael said he later downloaded a snapshot of the device-location data and published the map, arguing that it’s in the public interest because it reveals the sheer scale and reach of a surveillance network that many Americans don’t fully realize exists.
Last week, Doppel, a brand-protection company acting on Flock's behalf, filed a trademark complaint targeting the website hosting the map. So rather than publicly addressing the map's findings, Flock has tried to get it removed.
Michael has also questioned Flock's public statements about its security record.
Flock stated in a January blog post that it had "never been hacked" and had never experienced a data breach. Michael disputed this, arguing that he had already extracted the company's device-location database after alerting Flock to the vulnerability months earlier.
He told The Intercept that either the company knew about the incident and chose not to disclose it, or it had failed to detect that the data had been accessed.
The controversy has also reached Washington; Michael's findings were discussed during a recent Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Crime and Counterterrorism hearing, which was examining Flock's technology and the privacy implications of large-scale ALPR networks.
As lawmakers consider measures such as the FLAFO Act, the debate over the proper limits of license plate reader technology is likely to intensify.
Newsweek*’s reporters and editors used Martyn, our AI assistant, to produce this story. Learn more about Martyn here.*
Contact Newsweek editors on this story: Ben Kelly and James Debens
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