CEOs of Top Surveillance Companies Refuse Request to Face Questioning at Senate Hearing
Washington, D.C. — The CEOs of top automatic license plate reader (ALPR) companies refused to attend a Senate hearing on Wednesday, amid nationwide outrage over mass surveillance. On Tuesday, the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Crime and Counterterrorism released the witness list showing who will attend the hearing. Notably absent were the CEOs of top ALPR companies despite an invitation from Subcommittee Chair Josh Hawley (R-MO) directed at the CEOs of Flock Safety, Axon, Motorola and Verkada. Demand Progress is organizing the bipartisan civil society coalition to protect Americans from this egregious spying and is working with congressional offices across the aisle to advance a federal ban on Flock and other ALPRs. Demand Progress is also leading a campaign against these cameras.
The following is a statement from Demand Progress Senior Policy Advisor Hajar Hammado:
“This across-the-board no-show from these top CEOs is a cowardly attempt to avoid accountability. By refusing to answer questions about their invasive and widely-abused surveillance cameras, these CEOs are showing clear contempt for the concerns of the American people. Flock and other ALPR companies are profiting from an Orwellian spy network that is ensnaring millions of Americans and subjecting us to illegal, warrantless surveillance without our knowledge or consent. We deserve to know what information is being collected, how it’s being used and what is being done to prevent this data from being misused.”