U.S. Senator Josh Hawley to introduce Stop Flock Abuse Act regulating AI surveillance cameras

WASHINGTON D.C. (KQTV) -- Senator Josh Hawley says he'll introduce the Stop Flock Abuse Act, aimed at establishing safeguards for AI-powered surveillance cameras.

The move follows his investigation and a Senate Judiciary subcommittee hearing on Flock cameras and the threats they pose to privacy and national security.

Flock Safety declined to testify at the hearing but later told Hawley in writing that Congress should create a federal framework to regulate the technology.

The company also admitted it added some guardrails after coming under public scrutiny.

Hawley says law-abiding Americans shouldn't be treated like criminals and that Congress needs meaningful rules and accountability.

The bill would ban selling or sharing vehicle location data with non-government third parties, require written approval and audit logs for searches, mandate encryption with data stored only in the U.S., require deletion of driver data after ten days, bar hardware and software from foreign adversaries, and prohibit facial recognition in these networks.

"It sounds as if it's treating every citizen in America as if we are criminals, yet without any due process, without any reasonable suspicion, without any articulable suspicion whatsoever," Hawley said during a hearing. "This just seems very, very strange, to put it mildly."

You can read more on Senator Hawley's bills at hawley.senate.gov.