Florida has banned Flock cameras and other automated license plate recognition systems (ALPR) on state highways. In a memorandum issued on Monday, the Florida Department of Transportation (DOT) revoked all license plate reader permits and ordered the devices removed from state highways within 30 days. The agency also halted applications to install new license plate readers on state roads. DOT said the decision was made because of the “recent exponential increase” in the use of the systems, reports of misuse, data privacy concerns and worries about surveillance plans. The decision came after Florida Governor Ron DeSantis said about a week earlier that Flock cameras and license plate readers had “gotten out of control.” Texas Governor Greg Abbott also froze state spending on Flock cameras last month. Some local governments, including Lansing, Michigan; Tempe, Arizona; and Knox County in Tennessee, terminated their Flock contracts. The report was published on September 1, 2026.
Why it matters
The decision replaces an approach that expanded the use of automated license plate recognition on Florida state highways with a more limited framework that prioritizes concerns about misuse and data privacy. The change will require the reassessment on state roads of applications that use these systems or rely on this infrastructure. The spending freeze in Texas during the same period and the decision by some local governments to terminate their contracts show that the debate has evolved beyond the technical implementation of a single state into a broader issue of the limits of public surveillance. However, it remains unclear whether the regulation in Florida will affect local systems outside state highways and how data obtained from the devices to be removed will be handled.
Background
Florida is not a new name in the FikirPilot archive: we have published 2 news stories mentioning this name in the past 90 days; the latest is dated August 30, 2026.