Sanders backs a federal ban on automatic license plate readers
Bernie SandersU.S. senator
Bernie Sanders supported the Ban Flock Act, which would prohibit federal use of automatic license plate readers and limit federal funding for state and local use.
“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.”
Official statement
Where this statement fits
Should Flock-style license-plate surveillance networks exist?
Networked automated license-plate readers record passing vehicles and let agencies search or share travel records across locations. Candidates and officials disagree over whether to prohibit these networks, keep them with legal limits, or defend their use for investigations. This tracker records attributable positions on that choice, including proposals that would affect only public funding or data access.
Source and context
Official statement
About this source
The congressional sponsors described the proposed bill and their positions on Flock Safety and automatic license plate reader networks.
Archived copy (opens in a new tab)Before the quotation
Sanders spoke in the announcement of the Ban Flock Act.
After the quotation
The bill would prohibit federal automatic license plate reader use and block certain federal funding for state and local use.
How this statement is classified
The label describes this statement's response within the context above.
Why this label?
Sanders says the country should not become a surveillance state and supports legislation limiting automatic license plate reader use.
- Recorded on
- Published here
- People and groups discussed
- Flock Safety
More from this case
Read the full caseFatehi calls for national regulation and rejects an interim ban
“we need sensible regulation, we need national sensible regulation, but not regulation that either regulates the system out of existence or that requires a ban in the meantime.”Read statement
Jordan calls for unplugging cameras until they can be deployed securely
“And to me, just from the stuff that I’ve, I’ve shown on my channel, this is a solid risk-based argument in itself to unplug the cameras until we could figure out how to deploy them securely.”Read statement
Gluba says Flock and other license plate cameras violate the Fourth Amendment and should be removed
“They are a complete violation of community privacy and safety, they are in direct violation of the fourth amendment to the US constitution and should by law be removed immediately. They have been abused throughout the country by various LEOs and citizens alike as they have little to no security in their software. Every other day we see a new article about someone using a LPR camera system to spy on and track an ex girlfriend or boyfriend, or we see that someone has again used them to track children. They must be removed!”Read statement
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- Sanders backs a federal ban on automatic license plate readers
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The Dispute Index. "Sanders backs a federal ban on automatic license plate readers". First published: 2026-10-04. Last updated: 2026-10-06. https://disputeindex.com/events/4517-bernie-sanders-supported-the-ban-flock-act-which