Keith Self’s Flock Camera Bill Raises a Bigger Question: Who Can Access Your Driving Data?

By R.J. Morales | TX3DNews

When Congressman Keith Self introduced legislation this month requiring federal law enforcement agencies to obtain a warrant before accessing certain surveillance data collected by state and local governments, the proposal drew fresh attention to a technology that many drivers pass every day without noticing.

Automated license plate reader systems, including those made by Flock Safety, are being used by law enforcement agencies in Texas to investigate crimes, recover stolen vehicles and locate missing people.

At the same time, they have raised questions about privacy, data sharing and who should be allowed to search the information they collect.

Self’s bill, known as the PRIVACY Act, addresses one part of that debate. It would require federal agencies to obtain a warrant before accessing certain surveillance data collected through state and local systems. It would not prevent local police departments from using license plate readers or eliminate the technology already in place.

More Than Just a License Plate

What exactly are these cameras collecting?

Flock cameras are mounted along roadways and photograph vehicles as they pass. In addition to reading a license plate, the system records the time, location and visible characteristics of a vehicle, including its make, model, color and body style.

According to Flock Safety, the cameras do not use facial recognition technology, and license plate data is generally retained for 30 days unless it is preserved as evidence or another legal requirement applies.

Police can search the database while investigating a crime or receive an alert when a vehicle associated with a stolen vehicle report, wanted suspect or missing person passes one of the cameras.

A Look at Frisco’s Numbers

One North Texas city has provided a public look at how often the system is used.

Frisco police began deploying Flock cameras in late 2024. In its first public transparency report, covering January through June 2025, the department reported conducting 14,154 database searches while the system generated 38,644 alerts.

During that same period, the department reported the technology assisted in 54 arrests.

Frisco also noted that the alert total includes duplicate notifications and alerts generated by obscured or misread license plates. Department policy requires officers to document a law enforcement reason before conducting a search, and those searches are subject to audit.

Where the Debate Begins

For many law enforcement agencies, automated license plate readers have become another investigative tool.

Privacy advocates view the same technology differently.

Organizations such as the American Civil Liberties Union and the Electronic Frontier Foundation argue that while a single camera captures only one moment, thousands of cameras connected through a searchable network can reveal where a vehicle has traveled over time, even if the driver is not suspected of a crime.

Supporters respond that license plates are already visible on public roads and that the technology has helped solve crimes that might otherwise go unsolved.

The disagreement is less about whether the cameras work and more about how the information should be used, who should have access to it and what safeguards should be in place.

What Self’s Bill Would Change

Self’s legislation focuses specifically on federal access.

If enacted, the bill would generally require federal law enforcement agencies to obtain a warrant before accessing qualifying surveillance data collected through state and local systems. The bill also seeks to prevent federal agencies from obtaining the same information indirectly through local governments when a warrant would otherwise be required.

The proposal does not change how local police departments use license plate readers under current state and local law.

Questions Still to Be Answered

Self’s bill has renewed attention on automated license plate readers, but it does not settle the broader policy discussion.

Questions remain about how widely the technology is used, which agencies can access locally collected data, how often searches are audited and what happens when the system is misused.

Those are issues likely to continue long after Congress decides the future of the PRIVACY Act.

For North Texas drivers, automated license plate readers are already part of everyday travel. As lawmakers debate where the legal boundaries should be, questions about who can access the data—and under what circumstances—are likely to remain part of that conversation.