Flock cameras could create China-like surveillance state in US | Latest Tech News
Former Pentagon AI Policy Director Mark Beall warned that increasing artificial intelligence surveillance instruments, like Flock cameras, could flip American communities into a “China-like surveillance state” unless guardrails are enforced.
Speaking on “Saturday in America,” Beall argued that while this technology can have very important law enforcement advantages, clear guidelines and judicial oversight are mandatory to shield the rights of Americans at home.
“We have to be careful that we don’t go too far to the other direction and create a China-like surveillance state, which is literally what AI capabilities will ultimately enable and are enabling right now,” Beall told Fox News.
From destroyed digicam poles to viral indicators blocking surveillance lenses, some communities are pushing back against neighborhood surveillance cameras. Flock cameras are automated license plate readers used by law enforcement to document vehicle data that can support prison investigations. People in communities with the cameras have raised issues about privateness and potential misuse by law enforcement.
Beall acknowledged that the technology can benefit law enforcement but said people’s privateness issues are also legitimate. He urged a compromise and called for guardrails on how the cameras can be utilized, including strict guidelines and court oversight to forestall officers from abusing the technology for personal causes.
Former Pentagon AI chief Mark Beall warns Flock cameras could create a ‘China-like surveillance state’ in the US. FOX News
“It’s tough to bring the message of compromise to the American people, especially when it comes to our constitutional protections,” Beall said.
“I think what we’re seeing across the board when it comes to artificial intelligence is that the innovation upside is so tremendous, but across all of these different use cases, including the Flock cameras, what we really need are strong guardrails, a strong policy that allows us to maintain those special values, the American founding principles that make this country so great,” he added.
Lawmakers from both events have raised related issues and called for guidelines governing the surveillance technology. Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., has proposed banning the technology outright, and Rep. Tim Burchett, R-Tenn., has pushed to cut federal funding for local installations.
In Florida, transportation officers have ordered law enforcement companies to take down the license plate readers from state highways. They cited privateness issues and experiences of misuse of the technology.
A Flock digicam displays passing site visitors on September 2, 2026, in Miami, Florida. Getty Images
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis criticized the cameras at a news convention Monday, saying, “If you want to get in your car, and you want to go down to Buc-ee’s in St. Augustine, it’s really none of the government’s damn business if you’re doing that, right? What we don’t want in the state of Florida is to have a digital AI surveillance state where everything we’re doing is being tracked at all times.”
He added that the technology has sometimes been useful but questioned where the data goes and how it’s being saved.
“They claim that the companies aren’t going to misuse it, but no one’s watching that, and I know you can make some money selling cameras, but you really can make a lot of money if you can sell people’s data,” DeSantis said.
He said the company is concentrated on guaranteeing the technology is used for good, including by recommending seven-day data retention limits and holding those who misuse the system accountable.
In a assertion to Fox News Digital, Flock Safety said they announced new safeguards, including cutting default data retention to seven days, making misuse detection necessary for every buyer and calling on the broader surveillance industry to meet those same requirements.
In August, Flock Safety CEO Garrett Langley addressed privateness and security issues in an interview with Fox News host Kayleigh McEnany.
“Today, it is too often that in Flock and in other technologies, there’s no regulation. There’s no accountability, and we think that’s wrong,” Langley said.
“We announced changes that required auditing, that required using our audit assistance tool, which detects abnormal behavior, and we’re calling on state regulators to focus less on banning this type of technology and more [on] holding our law enforcement community accountable,” he added.
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