Flock-Off Act
United States- Introduced
- Passed House
- Passed Senate
- Became Law
Would cut off federal funding for automated license plate readers and biometric surveillance cameras, including contracts and data-sharing services connected to them.
Latest update
Introduced
This bill is still moving
This bill is still moving, so there's still time to lend your support.
Contact LawmakersWhat it does
H.R.10221 would prohibit federal money from being used to purchase, install, maintain, operate, or upgrade automated license plate readers and biometric surveillance cameras. Federal agencies would have to remove federally funded systems, while state and local recipients would have 180 days to stop operating them as a condition of continued funding. The restrictions also cover contracts, subscriptions, cloud services, databases, data-sharing arrangements, and AI-augmented cameras. The bill includes exceptions for toll collection and certain cameras within one mile of the northern and southern borders.
Why it matters
Networked license plate readers can create a searchable record of where people travel, while biometric cameras can identify and follow people at scale. Federal grants help turn local deployments into a wider surveillance infrastructure, even where voters never directly approved it.
Our take
The government should not use federal funding to make routine movement permanently searchable. The Flock-Off Act attacks the financial infrastructure behind that surveillance and reaches beyond the camera itself to the databases and data-sharing contracts that make mass tracking possible.
Timeline
Introduced
LatestSponsor
Thomas Massie (R-KY)
Cosponsors (7)
Eric Burlison (R-MO), Ro Khanna (D-CA), Victoria Spartz (R-IN), Paul Gosar (R-AZ), Chip Roy (R-TX), Lauren Boebert (R-CO)
Committee
Oversight and Government Reform Committee