Two bills introduced in Congress over the past three days underscore how the mounting bipartisan backlash to artificial intelligence-powered automatic license plate recognition (ALPR) cameras has reached a tipping point, with Flock and other ALPR companies increasingly facing political risks. 

On Wednesday, Sen. Josh Hawley (R-MO) introduced the Stop Flock Abuse Act to bolster safeguards for AI-enabled cameras and protect people’s constitutional rights. 

Sens. Bernie Sanders (D-VT) and Jeff Merkley (D-OR), with Rep. Alexandria Ocasio Cortez (D-NY), introduced a broader bill Friday, proposing to block the federal government from using ALPR cameras and prevent states deploying them from receiving federal funding. It also would let Americans sue the federal government if their rights are violated by deployment of ALPRs, according to a press release.

“Going to the doctor? Flock knows,” Sanders said in a statement. “Dropping your kid off at school? Flock is tracking you. Flock is always watching. We cannot allow America to become a surveillance state where a handful of AI oligarchs profit by giving the government the power to track our every movement.”

In addition to signaling the striking bipartisan nature of the accelerating outcry over the cameras, the proposed bills would apply to all ALPR camera companies, including Motorola and Axon. 

Privacy and civil liberties activists have long worried that the intensifying public uproar over Flock — which has maintained a higher public profile than its competitors — has left companies with very similar practices off the hook. In recent weeks, some police departments have ended their contracts with Flock only to sign on with a second ALPR company.