Sen. Josh Hawley (R-MO) announced on Wednesday that he would be investigating Flock Safety cameras and who has access to the data.

“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 Flock cameras to determine WHO has access to hundreds of millions of Americans’ data – and what they’re doing with it,” he added.

In a letter to Flock Safety, Hawley asked the company to “produce all documents and information” about its data retention policies, surveillance capabilities, and police departments’ misuse of its technology.

Full letter below:

“Flock has assembled an unprecedented national surveillance network. They boast more than 120,000 cameras across 49 states and more than 20 billion vehicle scans every month,” Hawley said.

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“Americans deserve answers,” he added.

POLITICO shared further:

Flock Safety said it received the letter.

“We will be responding directly to the questions raised and we look forward to working with Senator Hawley and the Subcommittee to provide additional context about how our technology works, the safeguards built into our platform, and how law enforcement agencies use Flock to solve crime and find missing people,” company spokesperson Paris Lewbel said in a statement to POLITICO.

“STOP FLOCK. STOP AI MASS SURVEILLANCE,” Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) said.

“Totalitarianism is when a government or another entity with overwhelming power seeks to know, control and influence everything you do, say and even think. I fear very much that if we don’t act aggressively, that is where we’re heading. You may not know it, but you may already be being tracked by artificial intelligence. Flock, a surveillance company backed by Big Tech oligarchs like Marc Andreessen and Peter Thiel, has installed more than 120,000 AI-powered surveillance cameras across America. These AI cameras scan and record 20 BILLION vehicles every month across more than 6,000 communities,” Sanders explained.

“What does that mean for you? It means that if Flock is in your community, every time you leave your house, a Flock camera records and tracks you. If you are dropping your kids off at school, Flock knows. If you are going to a doctor, Flock knows. If you are going out on a date, Flock knows. And that’s not all. Newer Flock cameras do not just record vehicles. They record people. Flock’s AI system can combine images of you and your vehicle with databases of phone numbers, relatives and court records to find out who you are, where you’re going and why,” he continued.

“In my view, this raises some very fundamental questions. Do we want to live in an America where AI companies like Flock can work with the government to track our every movement? Do we want to live in an America where our privacy rights and civil liberties — enshrined in the Constitution — are traded away so that AI oligarchs can collect more information, and increase their profits even more? The answer must be NO. We cannot allow America to become a surveillance state where a handful of AI oligarchs profit by giving the government the power to track our every movement. We must come together to stop Flock and AI mass surveillance. That is why I will soon be introducing legislation to do just that,” he added.

More from Courthouse News Service:

Flock, founded in 2017, sells its services to law enforcement and other community groups and markets its technology as a boon to crime prevention and criminal investigation. The company is valued at more than $7 billion and was initially backed in part by conservative venture capitalist Peter Thiel.

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