UPDATE: tuesday 2/18

On Monday, February 17, 2025, the Senate Courts of Justice Committee considered HB2724, a bill to add regulations to the current use of Flock Safety automatic license plate readers (ALPRs) — but also to expand their use to 60,000 miles of state roads and highways where ALPRs cannot currently be installed.

Everyone agrees more guardrails are needed. The regulations in HB2724 are not nearly restrictive enough, but they are an improvement over existing law, and a stepping stone toward future safeguards that will best protect the rights of Virginians.

Expansion is another story, however. Massively expanding the surveillance state, especially at a time of considerable political unrest and uncertainty, is imprudent, if not reckless. Flock Safety cameras have been the subject of lawsuits by civil libertarians wherever they’ve been installed. Flock Safety has been scrutinized for its opaque and questionably ethical methods of exerting influence with electeds. Flock’s founder regularly boasts that his technology will “end crime” altogether. Indeed, Flock hopes its next big source of revenue will be “first responder drones.” Is this really the dystopian future Virginians want?

For these reasons and many others — especially a subpoena/search warrant loophole that gives access to the data to other states and the federal government — expansion of Flock’s ALPRs understandably did not sit right with the Courts of Justice Committee. On Monday, 10 out of 12 of them supported an amendment to strike expansion from the bill. Ten out of 12 also agreed to report the amended bill — WITHOUT expansion — to Finance and the Senate Floor.

Tell members of the Senate to take first steps toward restrictive regulations for ALPRs, but if any effort is made to restore expansion of the surveillance state to the legislation they must oppose it.