A rare bipartisan backlash is building in the US against Flock Safety, a company whose automated licence plate reader (ALPR) cameras have come under fire from politicians on both the left and right over privacy concerns. The controversy follows reports of police officers misusing the cameras to stalk former partners and track people seeking abortions, alongside concerns that the surveillance network is regularly accessed by US Immigration and Customs Enforcement, prompting comparisons to nationwide anger over AI datacentre expansion.

There are around 120,000 Flock cameras across the US conducting roughly 2bn scans a month, and opposition has grown sharply, with 46% of Americans now against ALPRs in their community, up 13 points on the previous year. Figures ranging from Republican Texas governor Greg Abbott and senator Josh Hawley to progressive senator Bernie Sanders and congressman Ro Khanna have all taken action against the company, while more than 100 local jurisdictions have cancelled contracts and grassroots groups such as DeFlock have organised protests and, in some cases, vandalism of the cameras.