"Flock Off": Independent Seth Bodnar Takes Aim at Data Privacy in New Video

Bodnar calls on Congress to pass Rep. Thomas Massie’s bipartisan Flock-Off Act, says his opponent Kurt Alme has stayed silent while Montanans' data gets bought, sold, and tracked without their consent

MISSOULA, MT — Former Green Beret and Independent candidate for U.S. Senate Seth Bodnar released a new video today taking direct aim at Flock cameras, the automated license plate reader system now installed outside grocery stores, hardware stores, churches, and sporting goods shops across Montana, tracking residents' movements and feeding that data into a nationwide surveillance network. Yesterday, Trump expressed his support for Flock cameras, saying “I like them,” despite growing public opposition. 

“Getting groceries? They're watching. Building a new deck? Going to church? Seeing a doctor? They're watching,” Bodnar says in the video. “The whole thing isn't just creepy as hell, it's part of a massive economy designed to buy and sell our personal data. We've known for years that Big Tech follows us online, but now these Flock cameras are literally tracking our every move, and all this data needs a place to live in the cloud, so that's why they want to build data centers in our backyards. They’re all getting rich, and we're getting screwed, and nobody is holding them accountable.”

Bodnar is calling for Congress to pass the bipartisan Flock-Off Act, introduced by Representatives Thomas Massie (R-KY) and Eric Burlison (R-MO), which would bar federal funds from being used to purchase, install, maintain, or operate automated license plate readers and biometric surveillance cameras like those built by Flock Safety. If elected, Bodnar said he would push to get the bill passed in the Senate. 

Montana has already taken meaningful steps to rein in this kind of surveillance at the state level. State law generally bars government use of license plate readers on public highways, requires captured data to be destroyed within 90 days absent a warrant, and Montana was the first state in the country to close the law enforcement data broker loophole, blocking police from purchasing Americans' location data from a third party instead of getting a warrant.

“In Montana, we value our privacy, from our back porch to our pickup truck,” Bodnar said. “We didn't wait for Washington to figure this out, we led, and our state already closed loopholes Congress hasn't touched. It's time Washington caught up to Montana.”

Seth Bodnar is a Green Beret, business leader, and former president of the University of Montana running for the U.S. Senate to be an independent voice for Montana. Seth is guided by a lifelong commitment to duty, honor, and country. He graduated first in his class at West Point and served multiple overseas deployments, leading soldiers in the 101st Airborne Division and the 1st Special Forces Group, and serving as a special advisor to the commanding general in Iraq. After his military service and a successful career in business, Seth spent the last eight years leading the University of Montana. Under his leadership, the university achieved record high graduation rates, doubled research funding, launched the largest infrastructure renewal in campus history, restored financial stability, and was named the #1 military-friendly university in the country. Raised by two public school teachers, he believes leadership is about service, not party loyalty. Seth and his wife, a fifth-generation Montanan, are raising their three children in Montana.

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