1. United States
  2. Md.
  3. Letter

Shut Down Flock Safety's Surveillance Network and Protect Reproductive Privacy

To: Sen. Van Hollen, Sen. Alsobrooks, Rep. Elfreth

From: A verified voter in Arnold, MD

August 5

Stop allowing Flock Safety to operate as a nationwide stalking tool. A Texas sheriff's office just used Flock's network of 83,000 license plate cameras — spanning states where abortion is fully legal, including Washington and Illinois — to hunt down a woman suspected of self-managing an abortion. The search record said it plainly: "had an abortion, search for female." This is not a hypothetical abuse. It happened, and your constituents are at risk. You need to pass enforceable laws that restrict what data Flock and companies like it can collect, how long they can store it, and who they can share it with. Cross-state sharing of license plate data must be banned outright when it's used to pursue conduct that is legal where it occurs. The EFF's Atlas of Surveillance has documented over 1,800 agencies deploying these readers, with at least 4,000 able to search Flock's network — most with zero meaningful oversight. That is a surveillance dragnet, not a public safety tool. Reproductive freedom and mass surveillance cannot coexist. If you support abortion access, you have to act on the infrastructure being used to destroy it. Shut down warrantless cross-state ALPR sharing now.

Share on BlueskyShare on TwitterShare on FacebookShare on LinkedInShare on WhatsAppShare on TumblrEmail with GmailEmail

Write to Chris Van Hollen or any of your elected officials

Send your own letter

Resistbot is a chatbot that delivers your texts to your elected officials by email, fax, or postal mail. Tap above to give it a try or learn more here!