Sen. Josh Hawley Summons Surveillance Tech CEOs to Senate Hearing on AI Camera Privacy Concerns

Senator Josh Hawley has invited the CEOs of Flock Safety, Motorola Solutions, Verkada, and Axon Enterprise to testify before the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Crime and Counterterrorism about privacy risks posed by AI-powered surveillance cameras. Flock Safety has faced scrutiny over incidents in which law enforcement used its network to track individuals without justification, with at least 50 officers charged for illegal use of the technology. Senators from both parties have demanded accountability, while Flock has announced reduced data retention periods. Hawley is calling for federal legislation to establish lasting privacy protections.

A probe by a media outlet documented at least 50 law enforcement officers facing criminal proceedings over improper use of the technology, with certain cases involving the monitoring of women. Senator Hawley has called on the heads of several surveillance technology firms to appear before his Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Crime and Counterterrorism as part of a broadening review of their practices, with a published statement noting that AI-equipped cameras record around 20 billion vehicle images each month nationwide, the overwhelming proportion belonging to motorists who had broken no law, and that those individuals — people travelling to work, picking up children from school, or attending religious services — are now seeking clarity on how data gathered through a network of more than 120,000 Flock cameras is retained and handled; those invited to testify include Garrett Langley of Flock Safety, Greg Brown of Motorola Solutions, Filip Kaliszan of Verkada, and Rick Smith of Axon Enterprise. Senators Adam Schiff of California and Ron Wyden of Oregon jointly urged Flock to respond to reports that law enforcement agencies had deployed the company's licence plate readers, camera networks, and sensors for surveillance purposes without proper authorisation, stating that the company had fallen short of the civil liberties protections it had publicly pledged to uphold through responsible governance. Following misconduct allegations, Flock rolled out revised data privacy protocols last month, with its chief executive noting the company had been tardy in adopting policy changes.

Sen. Josh Hawley Summons Surveillance Tech CEOs to Senate Hearing on AI Camera Privacy Concerns

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Sen. Josh Hawley Summons Surveillance Tech CEOs to Senate Hearing on AI Camera Privacy Concerns

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