In the near future, I intend to introduce legislation that would prohibit the use of Flock Safety (surveillance) cameras and substantially similar networked automated license plate reader (ALPR) systems in Pennsylvania.
 
I have heard growing concerns from constituents about the rapid expansion of these cameras across Pennsylvania and the potential for this technology to become a system of mass surveillance. While ALPR systems are often promoted as tools to locate stolen vehicles and assist in criminal investigations, some systems also automatically capture, catalog and retain information about where vehicles travel.
 
The concern is not simply the camera. It is the creation of a searchable network capable of tracking and reconstructing a person's movements over time. The overwhelming majority of individuals captured by these systems are not suspected of any crime. Yet their movements can still be recorded and stored, potentially revealing where they work, worship, seek medical care, spend their time and who they associate with.
 
That is a level of surveillance that should concern everyone. Law-abiding citizens should be able to travel throughout Pennsylvania without having their movements continuously collected and entered into a searchable database.
 
This legislation would NOT prohibit the use of ordinary security cameras or ALPR’s that record video without automatically identifying and cataloging vehicles, license plates or individuals. It would continue to allow vehicle-mounted license plate readers to be used by law enforcement officers as part of their duties.
 
Public safety is a responsibility we all take seriously, but public safety should not require building a surveillance network capable of tracking the daily movements of millions of innocent individuals.

Please join me in cosponsoring this important piece of legislation.