Republicans introduce bills to curb warrantless license-plate surveillance

Representative Tim Burchett (R-TN) filed HR 9800, the Protection Against Mass Surveillance Act, to bar federal agencies from acquiring or using automated license-plate readers and other biometric identification tools, mandating deletion of any data within 30 days and prohibiting its use in court. The bill also prevents state and local governments from spending federal money on the same technology. Representative Thomas Massie (R-KY) introduced a parallel bill that would cut federal funding to any city or police department that deploys these cameras, aiming to shrink the market for companies like Flock Safety, which operates roughly 120,000 cameras across thousands of jurisdictions.

Recent court decisions, including Carpenter v. United States and Chatrie v. United States, have affirmed that location-tracking data constitutes a Fourth Amendment search, underscoring the constitutional concerns. Incidents such as a Milwaukee officer misusing Flock data to stalk personal contacts illustrate the potential for abuse. Local governments, from Knox County to Ithaca, are already reconsidering or canceling contracts amid public backlash.