Four CEOs whose companies run some of the country's biggest AI-powered surveillance camera networks skipped a Senate hearing called specifically to question them Wednesday, leaving lawmakers from both parties to spend the session criticizing a system of roughly 120,000 automatic license-plate readers that scans vehicles nationwide with almost no judicial oversight.
Why it matters: Automatic license-plate readers (ALPRs) like Flock Safety's have spread into nearly every state with little federal regulation, building searchable databases of vehicle movements that police — and in some documented cases, individual officers acting on their own — can query without a warrant. Wednesday's hearing showed the backlash now cuts across party lines.
Driving the news:
The Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Crime and Counterterrorism, chaired by Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.), held a hearing titled "Always Watching: Flock’s Nationwide AI Surveillance Network" on Wednesday, Sept. 23. Washington Examiner
Hawley had invited the CEOs of Flock Safety, Axon Enterprise, Motorola Solutions and Verkada to testify in person; all four declined to appear. Fox News
Hours before the hearing, Flock announced it was tightening the rules for searching its license-plate database, requiring more specific justification from law enforcement — a change Hawley said came after the company acknowledged its old free-text system produced vague explanations. Washington Examiner
Witnesses who did testify included Lindsey Isaacs, who was jailed after a flawed license-plate match, and a cybersecurity researcher who detailed security vulnerabilities in the systems. Fox News
By the numbers:
~120,000 — Flock Safety cameras deployed in every state except Alaska. Reason
$235 million — the 10-year Axon contract the LAPD is weighing, which would add more than 1,600 new plate readers across Los Angeles. Fox News
13 days — how long Lindsey Isaacs was jailed before charges tied to a flawed license-plate match were dropped. Fox News
5 — Indianapolis police officers criminally charged with misusing Flock’s database for unauthorized personal searches. Fox News
What they’re saying: "Americans do not surrender their privacy rights when they drive to work, drop their kids off at school, or go to church," Hawley said. "I’m investigating these companies to determine WHO has access to hundreds of millions of Americans’ data — and what they’re doing with it." Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) was blunter about the no-shows: "Their refusal to come forward and answer questions is a sign that they have something to hide." Fox News
The other side: Verkada pushed back on the idea of a shared surveillance dragnet, saying in a statement that “none of our customers can search a national Verkada network – because none exists.” The cameras have real institutional backers, too: President Trump has praised license-plate readers for their law-enforcement value, and departments nationwide continue expanding contracts with Flock and its rivals even as the political scrutiny mounts. Fox News
The bottom line: With Democrats and Republicans sharing the same subcommittee dais to criticize a surveillance network most Americans don’t realize exists, political pressure on unregulated plate-reader databases is building — but for now, the companies that run them answer mostly to their own new policies, not to any law.
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