WASHINGTON, Oct. 2 — Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.), and Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.) today released the Ban Flock Act, legislation to put an end to the rise in AI-powered surveillance cameras that track Americans across the country. The Ban Flock Act would prohibit federal agencies from using automatic license plate readers […]
While it’s kind of a ban, to be extremely clear, this is not a direct ban!
This would prohibit federal agencies from using ALPRs or accessing data from them, and it would block federal funding for ALPR systems, but locally-funded systems would still be allowed:
So what it does is cut federal grants to cities/towns that still use them, meaning the impact is a lot larger than just no money for cameras. It could seriously cut infrastructure and healthcare funds, and anything else the federal government funds. I do agree this is not a perfect solution, but it’s absolutely a step in the right direction, and I’d rather get something on the books to slow the adoption while the perfect solution is in the works. Don’t let perfect be the enemy of good.
Also Flock collects and catalogs a whole lot more than license plates. On cars it can of course identify the make and model but it’ll also catalog things like bumper stickers and custom rims for that car.
For people it’ll assign and track your description better than a cop would. Race, clothes, hats…
While I think that trying to do something is admirable, Bernie and AOC fall short on not understanding the complexity of the technology on this one
On cars it can of course identify the make and model but it’ll also catalog things like bumper stickers and custom rims for that car.
I think the bill covers that. It additionally states that it’s anything that “identifies, locates, and tracks a vehicle through the license plate or other persistent visual identifier of the vehicle”
While it’s kind of a ban, to be extremely clear, this is not a direct ban!
This would prohibit federal agencies from using ALPRs or accessing data from them, and it would block federal funding for ALPR systems, but locally-funded systems would still be allowed:
https://www.gadgetreview.com/bernie-sanders-aoc-and-jeff-merkley-just-introduced-the-ban-flock-act
So what it does is cut federal grants to cities/towns that still use them, meaning the impact is a lot larger than just no money for cameras. It could seriously cut infrastructure and healthcare funds, and anything else the federal government funds. I do agree this is not a perfect solution, but it’s absolutely a step in the right direction, and I’d rather get something on the books to slow the adoption while the perfect solution is in the works. Don’t let perfect be the enemy of good.
Also Flock collects and catalogs a whole lot more than license plates. On cars it can of course identify the make and model but it’ll also catalog things like bumper stickers and custom rims for that car.
For people it’ll assign and track your description better than a cop would. Race, clothes, hats…
While I think that trying to do something is admirable, Bernie and AOC fall short on not understanding the complexity of the technology on this one
I think the bill covers that. It additionally states that it’s anything that “identifies, locates, and tracks a vehicle through the license plate or other persistent visual identifier of the vehicle”