The Security Industry Association (SIA) is calling for stronger safeguards governing automated license plate reader technology amid mounting scrutiny over how the systems are used, while urging policymakers to preserve what it describes as their significant public safety and commercial benefits.
The policy push comes as ALPR provider Flock Safety faces growing pushback over privacy, surveillance, data sharing and potential misuse of information collected by its camera network. According to a report by Ars Technica, the digital rights group Secure Justice has recorded 214 cities and counties that have dropped Flock since 2021, including 93 jurisdictions in August alone. In response to the data, a Flock spokesperson told Ars that new city partnerships in 2026 have outpaced nonrenewals by approximately 10 to one.
The controversy has put broader questions about ALPR oversight in the spotlight, including who can access collected data, how it may be shared and what safeguards should govern law enforcement use.
Flock, meanwhile, announced in August that it is changing its recommended ALPR data retention period and default setting from 30 days to seven days, while allowing specific data to be preserved as evidence for active investigations. Existing customers will retain retention periods already established under their local policies.
The company is also requiring its Audit Assistance misuse-detection feature and case codes for law enforcement searches by the end of the year, while introducing automatic account lockouts for abnormal activity. Flock has also made multi-factor authentication mandatory and added controls allowing communities to restrict the types of offenses for which other agencies can search their cameras.
Against that backdrop, SIA CEO Don Erickson said the association believes ALPR and other security technologies should be limited to lawful, ethical and nondiscriminatory uses.
“ALPR is not — and must never become — a tool for mass surveillance or tracking law-abiding citizens,” Erickson said in a statement.
Erickson said SIA supports stronger accountability for government use, prohibitions against misuse and meaningful enforcement mechanisms while preserving ALPR’s legitimate public safety and commercial applications. At the same time, the association cautioned against policy approaches that could undermine what it describes as the established public safety value of ALPR technology.
SIA said ALPR has been used over the past two decades in efforts ranging from responding to terrorist attacks and violent crimes to fighting human and drug trafficking, locating missing people and enforcing protective orders. The technology also has commercial applications including parking management, access control and retail services.
