By MICHAEL BOWLES
Aug. 28, 2026 – The Matanuska-Susitna Borough should not acquire, install, operate, or spend public money on automated license plate reader (ALPR) systems such as Flock cameras. It should also prohibit Borough employees from entering into or extending contracts or partnerships involving ALPR data collection. My proposed ordinance on surveillance cameras takes a straightforward position on this important matter.
From a conservative perspective, this is not an argument against law enforcement or public safety. It is an argument for limited government, constitutional rights, and individual privacy.
Flock cameras can provide law enforcement with useful information when investigating crimes. But the technology also raises a more fundamental concern, how much information should the government collect about people who are not suspected of doing anything wrong?
An ALPR system can record license plates and associated location information as vehicles pass a camera. When that information is collected repeatedly, it can potentially create a detailed picture of where people travel and when. A person doesn’t have to be arrested, investigated, or even suspected of a crime for their vehicle to become part of that data collection.
That concerns conservatives because the principle of limited government means recognizing that just because government can collect information does not mean government should. The Fourth Amendment reflects a longstanding American suspicion of unreasonable government intrusion, while Alaska’s constitutional protections likewise recognize the importance of privacy.
There is another concern: Who ultimately gets access to the data?
This ordinance specifically identifies the potential sharing of surveillance information with third parties or federal entities as a structural risk. Once a database exists and information begins moving between agencies or organizations, local citizens may have little practical control over where their information goes or how long it remains available.
Technology also changes the scale of surveillance. A police officer following up on a specific lead is fundamentally different from a system capable of collecting information on thousands of vehicles automatically, day after day. One is targeted investigation; the other can become mass collection.
Government officials today may have good intentions, but laws should not be written solely around the assumption that every future official will exercise power responsibly. Good government protects liberty by placing limits on power before that power is abused.
Supporters of Flock cameras can legitimately argue that ALPR technology helps recover stolen vehicles and solve crimes. Those benefits deserve consideration, but public safety should never become a blank check for surveillance.
The conservative answer should be to preserve both: safe communities and free citizens.
Alaskans should not have to choose between effective law enforcement and the expectation that their everyday movements will remain private. If the Borough can protect public safety without building a permanent infrastructure for tracking ordinary citizens, that is the more conservative path.
Limited government means government having the tools it needs, but also knowing when it has gone too far.
The ordinance is being introduced at the next assembly meeting scheduled for Sept. 1.
Michael Bowles serves on the Mat-Su Borough Assembly and is a candidate for state House for District 25.
8 thoughts on “Michael Bowles: Flock cameras and the conservative case for privacy”
Hear. Hear.
I agree.
This is spot on. Could not agree more. I fully support law enforcement in the execution of their responsibilities, but I do not want to live in a UK-esque surveillance state all on the promise of “safety”.
The cameras should Flock off along with the company that owns them
Good article. I had no idea what a flock camera was and only recently had noticed the term. Yikes.
I don’t necessary agree that we should not have these cameras. Very helpful when there are shooters, (Stupid Mayor in Seattle shut them down, now there was a shooter and they still don’t have a suspect) and vandalisms, (think looters during demostrations).
I know that a liberal governing body should not be trusted with this responsibility and they don’t let their police force arrest these types of lawbreakers anyway. There is not a good solution right now. If we had “normal” elected officials, I would be more inclined to let this happen.
Never trust the government. Like the devil, you got to keep it down in the hole.
When we get you into the House in Juneau, you also need to push this at the state level. Great ordinance, thanks Mike
Thanks for the heads-up, Michael.
.
There is yet another concern.
.
Think about consequences when –not if– Flock’s hacked and flooded with false data about groups and individuals or hacked to monitor individual’s behavior during the next manufactured pandemic.
(https://securityaffairs.com/194016/ai/anthropics-mythos-ai-broke-into-almost-all-nsa-classified-systems-in-hours.html)
.
Anthropic’s Claude can’t be trained to do this? Guess again.
(https://support.claude.com/en/articles/13345190-get-started-with-claude-cowork)
.
Anthropic “invested” in candidate-for-governor Jonathan Kreiss-Tomkins. Should be fun to find out what Democrat Socialists and Anthropic have planned for us and how Flock data helps them get it.
(https://thealaskastory.com/the-san-francisco-treat-six-anthropic-employees-pour-historic-money-into-one-alaska-candidates-race-for-governor/)
.
How, might one ask, has the Borough, up to now, managed life without Flock?
.
Matanuska-Susitna Borough officials pledged their lives, fortunes, and sacred honor to protect us from misuse of Flock data, right?
.
One more thing, bro …ditch “conservative case for privacy”, that’s defense. Go on offense, call it what it damn well is, “Americans’ right to privacy”. Morph the “Don’t Tread on Me” meme into “Don’t Spy on Me” decals, hats, tee shirts to show at every public meeting from now on.
.
Pin them publicly on these points, don’t let ’em wiggle away, your picture looks like someone who’d have fun doing this work.