South Carolina AG sends letter to Flock Safety over data privacy

By Splitfeed EditorialLast updated Oct 6, 2026, 01:50 UTC

On October 5, 2026, South Carolina Attorney General Alan Wilson sent a formal letter to Flock Safety, the company that manufactures license plate reader cameras used extensively by law enforcement agencies across the country. The letter demands answers on three specific issues: how the company uses artificial intelligence, what its data privacy practices are, and who is permitted to access the data collected by its cameras. No response from Flock Safety has been detailed in available reporting.

The action matters because Flock Safety occupies a significant position in the law enforcement technology market, with its cameras deployed by police departments in many states. License plate readers generate large volumes of location-linked data on ordinary drivers, and the addition of AI processing to that data raises questions about how long records are kept, whether data is shared with third parties or other agencies, and what oversight exists. A formal letter from a state attorney general is not a lawsuit or a regulatory ruling, but it signals that Wilson views the company's practices as warranting official scrutiny and can be a precursor to enforcement action if answers are deemed insufficient.

None of the three camps have published reactions to this story yet. Pro-AI voices would typically argue that Flock Safety's tools help law enforcement solve crimes efficiently and that existing legal frameworks are adequate to govern how the data is used. Anti-AI voices would be expected to argue that automated, AI-enhanced surveillance of vehicle movements constitutes a serious civil liberties threat, particularly given the potential for that data to be shared broadly with little public accountability. A middle ground position would likely call for stronger transparency requirements and clearly defined data retention and access limits, without necessarily opposing the technology's use in law enforcement altogether.

The key thing to watch is how Flock Safety responds to Wilson's letter and whether Wilson finds that response adequate. If the company's answers raise further concerns, a formal investigation or legal action could follow. Any public release of the letter's specific questions, or of Flock Safety's written reply, would give a much clearer picture of where this dispute is actually headed.