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Sen. Bernie Sanders wants to kill Flock Safety’s surveillance operation before it gets any bigger. On Wednesday, he took to X to demand action, writing that Americans must “STOP FLOCK. STOP AI MASS SURVEILLANCE.” No draft bill. No timeline. Just urgency.
And the numbers behind that urgency are genuinely staggering. Flock Safety, backed by Marc Andreessen and Peter Thiel, has planted over 120,000 cameras across more than 6,000 communities nationwide. Those cameras log 20 billion vehicle scans every single month. Twenty billion. Sanders says the system doesn’t just catch criminals — it documents when you drop your kid at school, when you see a doctor, when you go anywhere at all. He believes the technology can pair those images with personal data to build detailed profiles of ordinary people’s lives. That’s the part that’s gotten lawmakers on both sides of the aisle paying attention.
Bipartisan Pushback Builds Fast
Sanders isn’t alone here. Kentucky Rep. Thomas Massie has said he wants to propose legislation that would cut federal funds to any agency still running Flock’s cameras. That’s a Republican and a democratic socialist on the same page — which doesn’t happen often, and probably tells you something about how radioactive this issue has become.
Local governments aren’t waiting for Congress either. Los Angeles pulled back. Monroe County, Indiana, did too. Other communities have suspended or cancelled contracts outright, citing privacy concerns that feel too big to ignore. And in several states, activists have gone further — physically vandalizing or disabling the cameras in protest. Whether you agree with that tactic or not, it’s a sign the public frustration runs pretty deep.
Atlanta-based Flock pushes back hard on the scariest accusations. The company says its cameras don’t use facial recognition. It says footage is retained for only 30 days. CEO Garrett Langley has been making the media rounds, including a FOX News interview where he basically argued that Americans need to find a middle ground between privacy and safety. He’s not wrong that it’s a genuine tension. But his credibility took a hit when it came out that he’d previously labeled anti-Flock activists a “terroristic organization.” He apologized for that. The damage was done.
Flock’s Expansion Keeps Going Anyway
None of the backlash has slowed Flock down much. The company, which started in 2017, has been expanding aggressively. It launched a nationwide program that puts Uber drivers to work scanning plates. It built a new police tool specifically designed to track drivers. It keeps growing its camera network. The business logic is clear — more cameras, more scans, more data, more contracts. But that same logic is exactly what’s driving the opposition.
The Uber partnership is worth sitting with for a second. It’s not just police cruisers or fixed intersections anymore. Everyday drivers, people you’d never think twice about passing on the highway, are potentially feeding plate data into Flock’s system. That’s a pretty significant expansion of the surveillance footprint, and it’s happened fast.
Langley has tried to frame all of this as a public safety story. More cameras catch more criminals, the argument goes. Some local law enforcement agencies agree. But privacy advocates say the scale of data collection — 20 billion scans a month — goes way beyond what any reasonable crime-fighting effort requires. The gap between those two positions hasn’t closed.
Sanders hasn’t given a date for when he’ll actually file his bill. That’s a real problem for anyone hoping for quick federal action. Legislative timelines are murky at the best of times, and without a specific bill or committee backing, it’s unclear how far he can push this. Massie’s federal funding proposal is probably more actionable in the near term, but that too is still in the intention stage.
What’s not uncertain is that Flock’s model is under more pressure than it’s ever faced. Local cancellations, bipartisan legislative threats, public protests, and a CEO who had to apologize for calling critics terrorists — that’s a rough stretch for any company, no matter how many cameras it has in the ground.
Flock Safety’s 120,000 cameras captured 20 billion vehicle scans last month alone.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many cameras has Flock Safety installed across the United States?
Flock Safety has installed over 120,000 cameras in more than 6,000 communities, capturing 20 billion vehicle scans every month.
Who is backing Flock Safety financially?
Flock Safety has received backing from tech investors Marc Andreessen and Peter Thiel, according to Sen. Sanders’ public statements on the matter.
Why It Matters
The push by Senator Sanders to regulate Flock Safety's expansive surveillance network highlights growing concerns over privacy and the implications of widespread AI surveillance technology. As public and legislative scrutiny increases around data collection practices, particularly in the context of security and civil liberties, the developments in this space could influence broader regulatory frameworks for tech companies in the surveillance and data management sectors, potentially impacting investor sentiment and market dynamics.
