Your bumper sticker could help Flock cameras track where you go — new bill aims to stop it

FIRST ON FOX: Americans are sounding the alarm over privacy concerns surrounding Flock cameras and other automated license plate readers (ALPRs) that can snap photos of cars and track locations, and one GOP lawmaker is moving to close the gaps.

Rep. Pat Harrigan, R-N.C., introduced a bill Thursday that would ban ALPR searches targeting political or religious messages on vehicles, require warrants for most searches, mandate that records be deleted within 24 hours and prohibit vendors from selling or sharing location data.

"When you consider that these systems track everything that you do, where you work, where your kids go to school, where you even go to church, I think it's pretty easy to understand why people are concerned," Harrigan told Fox News Digital. "So that's an extraordinary amount of information about somebody that the government has that has never committed a crime."

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Flock cameras and other ALPRs have drawn widespread debate. Law enforcement uses them in criminal investigations to collect searchable license plate, location and other vehicle data that allow officers to search by location and identify vehicles matching a suspects vehicle description.

Critics believe they raise constitutional concerns by tracking drivers without consent, while supporters say they are needed for crime prevention. President Donald Trump has voiced support for Flock cameras, telling reporters on Sept. 13 that he "sort of" likes them because of their use by law enforcement despite some people calling them "an infringement."

Harrigan's bill would impose restrictions on all ALPR systems, including prohibiting government agencies from categorizing vehicles by "expressive attributes" like political or religious bumper stickers, flags or decals.

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"At the end of the day, they have nothing to do with whether you committed a crime or not," Harrigan said. "As all of this data comes in and is vacuumed in by the government, it becomes searchable, particularly with the new technologies that we have surrounding artificial intelligence."

That means messages ranging from "Back the Blue" to "Jesus Saves" or "Black Lives Matter" could not be turned into searchable data. The bill would also block ALPR searches targeting political or religious activity, civil immigration violations, parking or non-moving traffic violations, debts and other civil penalties.

As ALPR technology expands, Flock Safety says its systems can detect bumper stickers but cannot identify their type, "like a political party or a house of worship."

However, its AI-powered FreeForm search allows users to search vehicle characteristics "in plain terms," raising questions about how bumper stickers and other markings could be used to identify vehicles. The company said safeguards are designed to block searches for vehicles based on political or religious bumper stickers and symbols.

The bill would require law enforcement to have a probable cause warrant in most searches, with exceptions for immediate threats to som