SPRINGFIELD – As Flock Safety and other AI surveillance companies face scrutiny before the U.S. Senate today, Illinois Secretary of State Alexi Giannoulias has worked to hold the technology companies accountable for their unlawful use and sharing of license plate reader data.
As a result of these efforts, the topic has gained national attention. Today, the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Crime and Counterterrorism is holding a bipartisan hearing titled “Always Watching: Flock’s Nationwide AI Surveillance Network” to examine the growing use of the automated surveillance technology, including license plate readers, and the expanding networks that collect and store information about Americans’ movements.
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Representatives from Flock Safety and other AI surveillance companies have been invited to answer how their license plate data is collected, stored, searched and shared, as well as questions related to the broader surveillance networks that track vehicles.
“For far too long, these tech companies have been able to skirt our laws and put people’s privacy at risk without meaningful oversight,” Giannoulias said. “The scrutiny Flock is facing in Washington is long overdue, but in Illinois we didn’t wait for a congressional hearing to act. We passed strong privacy protections, uncovered unlawful access and – most importantly – forced changes that protect law-abiding drivers in Illinois and across the country. The public deserves answers, accountability and enforceable safeguards – including real transparency and strict limits on data sharing and meaningful consequences when companies fail to protect our privacy.”
Automated license plate readers can serve as an important law enforcement tool, helping police recover stolen vehicles, locate missing people and solve serious crimes. But companies like Flock have transformed the technology into a massive, searchable surveillance network capable of tracking the travel of millions of law-abiding Americans who are not suspected of any crime.
In May 2023, Giannoulias championed an Illinois law prohibiting the use of Illinois ALPR data by federal and out-of-state law enforcement for immigration enforcement and for tracking individuals seeking legal reproductive healthcare. In August 2025, the office forced Flock to strengthen its safeguards and conducted auditsto review compliance with state data-protection laws. Those audits resulted in access being cut off for federal agencies, including U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP).
These findings have helped fuel a national conversation about the practices of private companies that manage ALPR systems used by law enforcement and the need for stronger safeguards to protect Americans’ privacy.
“This is not about taking useful tools away from law enforcement,” Giannoulias said. “It is about preventing a public-safety tool from becoming an unchecked system of mass surveillance.”
