JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Gov. Ron DeSantis said Monday that Florida must avoid becoming a “digital AI surveillance state,” calling on lawmakers to pass protections after raising concerns about how license-plate reader cameras and other devices collect and sell people’s data.
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DeSantis held a press conference in Jacksonville at the FSCJ Cecil Commerce Center.
“We don’t want in the state of Florida to have a digital AI surveillance state where everything we’re doing is being tracked at all times,” DeSantis said, arguing some uses of license-plate reader systems are appropriate — such as toll-by-plate — but not for routine criminal penalties or broad tracking.
DeSantis said he has pushed for an “AI bill of rights” and noted the Florida Senate approved a version of such legislation 39-1. He criticized the Florida House for not taking up the measure, saying lawmakers who ignored the issue “were totally dismissive of the need to do that.”
He warned about private companies harvesting movement data and said there are too few safeguards against misuse by both corporations and law enforcement.
“You can make a lot of money if you can sell people’s data,” he said, adding that some officers have used license-plate reader data improperly, for instance, to track an ex‑girlfriend and that penalties for such misuse are weak.
DeSantis also described wider risks from AI systems, saying some applications can behave in unexpected ways and that humans must remain in control.
“To go in a situation where you have computers that are not under human control and could potentially do things to harm people, that’s a huge, huge threat and risk,” he said.
The governor said he has discussed the issue with legislative leaders and cited New Hampshire as having a model approach to handling license-plate reader systems. He urged targeted tools for law enforcement focused on criminals, not broad systems that “sweep up just every day citizens.”
DeSantis acknowledged the difficulty of opting out of tech-driven society, saying that after becoming governor he chose not to use text or email in part because such communications can become public records.
“It’s really none of the government’s damn business if you’re doing that,” he said, describing routine travel as private.
He said the Legislature will need to act to protect Floridians’ privacy as AI and surveillance technologies expand.
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