Flock cameras may be even more controversial than data centers. These cameras have been set up around the country and use AI-enhanced surveillance systems that include automatic license plate readers (ALPR). Representative Keith Self (R-TX) was on my radio program recently to talk about his bill, the PRIVACY Act that addresses this issue.

There are advantages. If your truck is stolen, police typically take a report and hope it is recovered. With this technology, law enforcement could spot the thieves on camera before you even return home. It would help with AMBER Alerts or silver alerts.

However, the camera doesn’t just read the plates of a stolen truck or car carrying a passenger who needs to be found. It reads your license plate every day as you go to work, to the store, to church, to a rally, or a gun store. In fact, the new cameras read much more than a license plate and stay on a searchable database for an extended period.

 Here’s the problem. One camera is a tool. More than 100,000 of them are another layer of digital surveillance. The PRIVACY Act would require federal law enforcement to obtain a warrant before accessing data collected. It also would limit retention of the data to 30 days unless it includes evidence for prosecution or a court orders an extension.

We supposedly have Fourth Amendment protections against unlawful searches, but many of those protections are fading because of surveillance technology. Congressman Self reminded us that Americans’ “right to be secure in their privacy does not disappear just because of new technology or artificial intelligence.”

This is common sense legislation that allows the benefits but protects us from potential abuses.