Two Tennessee Politicians Are Taking Aim At Flock’s Growing Surveillance Empire
Two prominent Tennessee Republicans are raising alarms over the rapid expansion of automated license plate reader technology, warning that the growing network of surveillance cameras could erode Americans’ privacy without adequate legal safeguards.
Knox County Mayor Glenn Jacobs and Rep. Tim Burchett, who is a former Knox County Mayor, are both calling for action as Flock Safety’s automated license plate reader (ALPR) cameras continue spreading across Tennessee and the country.
“I appreciate Congressman Burchett’s efforts to bring this attention at the national level,” Jacobs told the Daily Caller in a statement. “As technology advances, we need to make sure the rules and regulations surrounding these devices keeps up and continues to protect the rights and liberties of our citizens.”
The concerns come as Flock Safety has rapidly grown into one of the nation’s largest providers of ALPR technology. The company’s cameras are marketed as crime-fighting tools that can help law enforcement locate stolen vehicles, identify suspects and assist in criminal investigations.
However, citizens and government officials are skeptical that the expanding network amounts to mass surveillance of ordinary Americans who are not suspected of committing crimes. (RELATED: EXCLUSIVE: Rep. Keith Self Seeks To Bar Federal Agencies From Obtaining Flock Surveillance Data — Without A Warrant)
In Tennessee, Jacobs is urging county officials to reject the deployment of Flock cameras altogether. In a video statement posted Monday, Jacobs argued that today’s AI-powered license plate readers go far beyond older systems that merely photographed license plates for short-term law enforcement use.
“While License Plate Readers have been around for a while, because of AI and vastly increased networking and data retention capacities, these Flock cameras have capabilities not even imagined in the past,” Jacobs said.
He warned that modern Flock cameras use artificial intelligence to catalog additional information about vehicles, including their make, model, color and even bumper stickers.
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“That data is stored in a searchable database for sometimes up to a month or more, depending on the policies of that particular agency,” Jacobs explained. “When these cameras are deployed in large numbers, they create a network that can be used to track your movements.”
Jacobs expressed his fear that these cameras are, “inadvertently creating a warrantless mass surveillance system” and called for Congress to take action. (RELATED: ROOKE: Surveillance State Has Arrived, And Masked Heroes Are Already Fighting Back)
Burchett’s forthcoming legislation would seek to place limits on the use of surveillance technology.
“We gotta keep our country safe. What we can’t sacrifice is the freedoms, of course, that define us,” Burchett said in a video post to X on July 23. “It violates the fourth amendment.”
Burchett introduced H.R. 9800 to Congress on July 21. The Protection Against Mass Surveillance Act would prohibit federal agencies from purchasing, using, accessing, or contracting for a wide range of surveillance technologies. It would also bar state, local, and federal governments from using federal funds to acquire or operate those systems.
Burchett claims that the cameras “violate our constitutional rights” and force Americans to “choose between safety and liberty.” He explains that law enforcement and intelligence agencies should have tools to address threats, but “taking our constitutional rights is not on the table.”
“Trust but verify, that’s what Reagan said,” Burchett said. “This legislation, of course, it’ll hopefully restore the constitutional balance between national security and individual liberty.”
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