Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro said he would support bipartisan legislation banning Flock cameras and similar automated license plate reading systems across the state.
“I would welcome bipartisan legislation to ban these across the state,” Shapiro said in response to a question from The Center Square. He said the technology is not something he supports or considers to be in the public interest.
Automated license plate readers, or ALPRs, photograph license plates and can store information about vehicle locations and movements. Several Pennsylvania lawmakers have proposed legislation addressing how the technology may be used.
State Sen. Dan Laughlin, R-Erie, announced Thursday that he plans to introduce legislation prohibiting Flock Safety cameras and substantially similar networked ALPR systems in Pennsylvania.
Laughlin said the systems can identify vehicles, catalog their movements and place that information into searchable networks that can be used to reconstruct where a person has traveled.
State Sens. Lisa Boscola, D-Northampton, and Doug Mastriano, R-Franklin, also announced separate proposals Thursday.
Boscola’s proposal would prohibit knowingly accessing or using an automated surveillance system, or information obtained through one, for an unauthorized personal or unlawful purpose. Her proposal would allow legitimate use for criminal investigations, public safety, missing-person cases, court-authorized purposes and other lawful official duties.
Mastriano’s proposal would prohibit routine collection and retention of motorists’ movements through automated license plate surveillance without suspicion of wrongdoing. His legislation would apply to the technology rather than a specific company and would include exceptions for law enforcement uses involving circumstances such as stolen vehicles, abducted children, wanted fugitives and vehicles connected to criminal investigations.
At least six bills have also been introduced in the Pennsylvania House addressing automated license plate reading systems, according to Access Harrisburg. Some of the proposals have bipartisan support.
Supporters of ALPR technology have argued that it assists law enforcement with investigations.
Flock Safety said in its 2025 Impact Census that its technology supported more than 1 million investigations, assisted in 20% of cleared cases, helped locate more than 10,000 missing people and contributed to stolen vehicle recoveries nationwide.
Senate Bill 933, introduced last year with support from seven Republican senators, proposed allowing ALPR technology on state-owned infrastructure for law enforcement purposes. The proposal argued that the systems can compare license plates with databases involving stolen vehicles, wanted individuals and other crimes.
Shapiro said Friday that Pennsylvania State Police does not use Flock cameras and that the cameras are not permitted on state property or Pennsylvania Department of Transportation roadways.
The debate over ALPR technology is also occurring outside Pennsylvania. The National Conference of State Legislatures reports that 16 states have laws that expressly address use of automated license plate readers.
In Florida, Gov. Ron DeSantis said this week that use of Flock cameras had become “out of control” and called for legislative action.
At the local level, the Abington Township Board of Commissioners in Montgomery County voted Thursday on a contract to replace the police department’s Flock Safety surveillance system. The police department said the replacement system would place additional limits on data sharing.
