DeSantis warns in Miami against Flock cameras' 'surveillance state' potential

Liv Caputo, Miami Herald on Aug 26, 2026

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Gov. Ron DeSantis on Wednesday became the latest politician in a swelling bipartisan movement to demand an overhaul of how and where AI-powered Flock cameras can be used, calling on Floridians to pressure lawmakers to regulate the tools.

“I don’t want to have this become a surveillance state,” he told attendees at an unrelated event in Miami. “Go after criminals — great, let’s all do that. But surveilling just regular Floridians’ movements, and how that data’s used, that’s a bird of a different feather.”

In his last year as governor, and with his final legislative session behind him, DeSantis asked voters to call their lawmakers to demand regulations on the cameras, which use AI to read, identify and store license plate and vehicle information.

He suggested Florida look to New Hampshire, which largely bans state and local governments from surveilling and recording public roads, and mostly prevents fixed roadside license plate readers.

DeSantis was among the first in his party to criticize unfettered use of artificial intelligence. It was a stark contrast from President Donald Trump, who had allied himself with technology titans and signed an executive order curbing states’ abilities to curb AI in favor of regulations at the federal level.

Last year, DeSantis’ office authored an “AI Bill of Rights” — a sweeping regulatory package that would have kept minors away from certain AI tools and forced AI companies to delete users’ personal data.

It failed in the state House, which had long-feuded with the governor in his last two years.

On Wednesday, DeSantis criticized the House for not taking up the bill — claiming his measure would have prevented a potential “surveillance state” but the House “wouldn’t even do anything about it.”

But Florida isn’t new to Flock.

In the past year, DeSantis and the Cabinet have approved roughly $2.5 million from a new state immigration grant to six local law enforcement agencies who were either buying Flock license plate readers or trying to consolidate Flock information onto a single software database.

It’s part of the DeSantis administration’s broader immigration crackdown, started in 2025 to align with Trump’s nationwide call for mass detentions and deportations.

Along with creating two state-run detention centers called Alligator Alcatraz and Deportation Depot, DeSantis muscled through legislation creating a State Board of Immigration Enforcement, made up of himself and the three Cabinet members, and a $250 million grant to support local police aiding in detentions.

So far, the state has approved $147 million in disbursements; just under $22 million of that has been doled out to local law enforcement.

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