Senator Josh Hawley is widening his investigation of AI-powered surveillance camera networks, sending information demands to the chief executives of Motorola Solutions, Verkada and Axon Enterprise. The Missouri Republican, who chairs the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Crime and Counterterrorism, opened the inquiry last week with a letter to Flock Safety chief executive Garrett Langley.
In the new letters, he asks how the three companies manage the retention and use of citizen data collected by their camera networks, which combine automated plate readers, vehicle cameras and AI analytics. Hawley said on social media that Flock does not stand alone in the surveillance industry, and that other vendors are also assembling large, AI-assisted camera networks that intrude on Americans’ privacy. That is why the probe now covers more ground.
His earlier letter to Langley cited a lack of safeguards across Flock’s network of more than 120,000 cameras in 49 states. The pressure follows reporting that police officers have abused such systems to track romantic partners, and several cities have already severed their Flock contracts over data-handling failures.
Axon, which sells cameras that mount on patrol cars, told The Hill it had reached out to Hawley’s office to discuss the letter and welcomed the chance to demonstrate its commitment to responsible innovation. Every company under scrutiny builds or feeds the plate reader and vehicle camera networks that track cars by plate numbers and movement patterns.
The expanded inquiry treats vehicle surveillance data as a privacy problem with national scale rather than a string of isolated local scandals. Hawley has not said whether legislation will follow the information requests.
