Republicans and Democrats don’t agree on much. But concern over mass surveillance has garnered bipartisan outrage, as Americans wake up to the fact that a nationwide mass surveillance system has been built by companies like Flock Safety, Axon, and Motorola Solutions.
The Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Crime and Counterterrorism, led by Sen. Josh Hawley, is holding a hearing on Wednesday, Sept. 23, about this surveillance. Hawley, a Republican from Missouri, has invited the CEOs of Flock, Axon, Motorola, and Verkada to all testify.
I’ve invited the CEOs of Flock Safety, Axon, Motorola and Verkada to testify in front of my committee NEXT WEEK.
Americans deserve answers https://t.co/ukKgu5y8Ts
— Josh Hawley (@HawleyMO) September 18, 2026
Flock has become a household name over the past year, synonymous with 1984-style cameras that can be called up by police departments across the country. At least 50 law enforcement officials have been accused of misusing the Flock system to do things like stalk their wives or ex-girlfriends, according to the Washington Post.
But Flock isn’t the only company engaged in this nationwide spying on U.S. citizens. Axon, which is most famous for making tasers, also deploys automated license plate readers (ALPRs). Axon has even suggested that outrage over Flock has helped drive new business to Axon, with company president Josh Isner saying on an earnings call earlier this year, according to the Guardian: “We’re hearing directly from customers—some of whom came to us from other vendors—that our track record on privacy and ethics was a deciding factor in their decision.”
Motorola Solutions also makes ALPRs, which local law enforcement agencies sometimes tout as having more privacy safeguards. The Electronic Frontier Foundation recently posted a video to YouTube about the Motorola cameras that are hidden in orange traffic cones near the U.S.-Mexico border in Southern California.
Verkada also makes AI-powered camera systems, though a company spokesperson told Gizmodo on Friday that the CEO, Filip Kaliszan, will not attend the hearing on Sept. 23.
“Unfortunately, our CEO is unable to attend next week’s hearing. We are in communication with the Subcommittee and are providing information to assist Chairman Hawley and Ranking Member Durbin as they prepare for the hearing,” the spokesperson told Gizmodo. “As we’ve explained to the Subcommittee, none of our customers can search a national Verkada network – because none exists. Our customers can only access the data in their own systems.”
Gizmodo reached out to Flock, Axon, and Motorola as well but didn’t immediately get a response. We’ll update this article if we hear back.
Josh Hawley has been somewhat out of step with his party on a couple of issues lately, at least rhetorically. The Republican senator has also led hearings against the practice of surveillance pricing, when personal data is used to manipulate prices higher or lower for a specific person.
Hawley has also introduced legislation to strip tax breaks for data centers, another area where Americans are angry at the moment. Roughly 71% of Americans oppose data center construction in their area, according to polling from Gallup in May. In fact, more Americans would rather have a nuclear power plant built in their community than a data center.
It’s unclear why Hawley may be bucking his party on so many issues right now, but he’s well in step on issues like abortion, which he opposes. Hawley told the Washington Examiner this week that he doesn’t plan to run for president in 2028, though it’s easy to imagine a world where that changes.
“Americans do not surrender their privacy rights when they drive to work, drop their kids off at school, or go to church,” Hawley told Fox News Digital in a statement. “I’m investigating these companies to determine WHO has access to hundreds of millions of Americans’ data – and what they’re doing with it.”
The hearing next Wednesday is titled “Always Watching: Flock’s Nationwide AI Surveillance Network” and a livestream will be available at the subcommittee’s site.
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