Missouri Senator Questions Surveillance Practices
Senator Josh Hawley, a Republican from Missouri, has expressed significant concerns regarding the surveillance state and its implications for citizens’ privacy.
On Wednesday, he made a statement that could impact numerous neighborhoods across the United States. Hawley commented, “The American people want to know who has access to their personal data and how.” This comes at a time when license plate reading cameras are seemingly everywhere, even camouflaged in items like traffic cones and barrels. He emphasized that Americans’ privacy rights don’t disappear when they are in their vehicles.
In a post on X, Hawley stated, “Americans do not surrender their privacy rights when they drive to work, drop their kids off at school, or go to church.” Following this assertion, he announced that he would begin an investigation into Flock, a company allegedly responsible for over 120,000 cameras deployed in 49 states, a figure echoed by the license plate tracking service DeFlock.
Hawley insisted that “Americans deserve answers” regarding how their data is being handled. In a letter addressed to Flock’s CEO, Garrett Langley, he demanded clarity on the measures the company takes to protect American citizens’ data.
He remarked that Flock conducts “more than 20 billion vehicle scans every month,” highlighting that most individuals captured by these systems haven’t committed any offenses. However, he pointed out several alarming instances of data misuse involving Flock’s systems.
For instance, shortly before Hawley’s letter, a Missouri man was found to have extensively misused Flock’s data system for personal gain. Additionally, a Milwaukee police officer was charged for repeatedly searching Flock’s system for his girlfriend’s license plate, allegedly under the pretext of “investigation.” This officer had accessed her plate 124 times and her ex-boyfriend’s 55 times.
Another case involved a Florida woman who spent 13 days in jail facing multiple felony charges after a search linked her to potential wrongdoing, but it was later established that she was misidentified.
Moreover, a police department in California discovered that Flock misread license plates in 71% of alerts, prompting the LAPD to sever ties with the company.
Hawley expressed further “uncertainty” regarding whether Flock has the rights to sell or utilize customer data, mentioning Flock’s substantial valuation of $8.3 billion, which suggests pressure to find new revenue avenues. He stated that “Americans demand a full accounting for how their driver data is stored or sold.”
He concluded by stating that this investigation would seek to uncover who has access to personal data and how it is being utilized, emphasizing that the American public deserves transparency.
There are also rising concerns about the potential to enhance license plate readers to capture unique signals emitted by devices within vehicles. A capability dubbed SignalTrace could identify cell phones, smartwatches, Bluetooth gadgets, and Wi-Fi signals, raising the possibility of creating comprehensive profiles of drivers and their electronic devices.
