Schumer Demands Flock Delete Personal Data, Disclose Its Use

Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer is demanding that Flock Safety delete personal data not connected to crimes and disclose whether federal agencies have accessed the company’s nationwide license-plate database.

“A company can’t just come in and collect personal information about our entire lives and not answer any questions about it,” Schumer said in a statement on Sunday. “We have no insight into what contracts this company has here, or how much of this information law enforcement is using.”

Senators Bernie Sanders and Jeff Merkley as well as Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, all Democrats, introduced legislation on Oct. 2 that would restrict federal use of Flock’s cameras powered by artificial intelligence.

Schumer didn’t explicitly back that bill, the Ban Flock Act, in his statement.

Concerns about information collected by Flock’s camera networks are bound up in growing anxieties over the role of technology, particularly AI, in American life, and politicians in both parties have responded. Last week, Senator Josh Hawley, a Missouri Republican, announced that he would introduce legislation called the Stop Flock Abuse Act.

“AI-powered cameras produced by Flock and its competitors are tracking and creating digital footprints of everyday Americans — a nightmare for individual liberties unless Congress enacts meaningful rules and accountability,” Hawley said in a statement.

The company, an Atlanta startup founded in 2017, said in a statement on Sunday that it welcomed “the opportunity to provide Senator Schumer and other policymakers with additional information about our technology and how it is used by law enforcement agencies across the country.”

After a backlash prompted some communities to cancel contracts, Flock tightened data sharing and storage rules in August.

Schumer pressed Flock to explain what data it collects on Americans, how long it stores that information and who can access it. In a letter to Flock’s chief executive officer, Garrett Langley, he asked for details about the company’s National Lookup Tool, which allows law enforcement agencies to search camera data collected outside their jurisdictions.

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He also asked whether federal agencies have accessed Flock data directly or through local police departments, and raised concerns about reports that the company can link license plates to names, telephone numbers and relatives of motorists.

Schumer cited recent security breaches involving Flock cameras and asked for a response by Oct. 16. His statement didn’t mention Flock’s use of artificial intelligence software.

The bill proposed Friday by Sanders would largely ban federal use of Flock’s AI-powered cameras and data, while tying some federal grants to similar state and local restrictions. Sanders compared the system to forcing Americans to wear ankle monitors and said the measure is meant to prevent a surveillance state.

The use of Flock’s surveillance tools has increased swiftly across more than 12,000 communities and lawenforcement agencies across 43 US states, as of 2025. The connected devices, such as sensors and automated license plate readers, have allowed law enforcement agencies to map vehicles’ travel over long distances, which, they say, bolsters their ability to fight crime.

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“Going to the doctor? Flock knows. Dropping your kid off at school? Flock is tracking you,” Sanders said in a statement announcing his bill Friday.