Florida has passed a new law that turns hiding or covering your license plate into a criminal act. Once a simple traffic ticket, it now carries the possibility of jail time and a permanent record. Lawmakers claim the change will improve road safety and accountability, but the effect is far more sweeping. It ensures that automated surveillance systems, like those operated by Flock Safety, have a perfectly clear view of every car on the road.
The legislation, House Bill 253, was signed into law as Chapter 2025-36 and took effect on October 1, 2025. It amends Florida Statute § 320.061 and creates a new § 320.262, both of which sharply increase penalties for anyone who obscures or tampers with a license plate or uses a device that interferes with automated scanning.
From Traffic Ticket to Criminal Record
Before HB 253, covering a license plate was a minor, non-criminal infraction. A cop might write a ticket and you’d pay a small fine. Under the new law, the same act is now a second-degree misdemeanor, punishable by up to 60 days in jail and fines under §§ 775.082 and 775.083.
That escalation means something very different: it moves what used to be a nuisance citation into the criminal justice system. For something as trivial as a tinted plate cover, drivers can now face arrest, jail, and a criminal record.
The bill’s analysis even admits this is an unusual jump in enforcement strength:
“The bill increases the penalty from a noncriminal traffic infraction to a second degree misdemeanor if a person knowingly applies or attaches a covering which interferes with the legibility, angular visibility, or detectability of any feature or detail on the license plate.”
What the Law Says
Florida Statute § 320.061 now reads:
“A person may not apply or attach a substance, reflective matter, illuminated device, spray, coating, covering, or other material onto or around any license plate which interferes with the legibility, angular visibility, or detectability of any feature or detail on the license plate or interferes with the ability to record any feature or detail on the license plate.”
The new § 320.262 expands that even further. It defines a “license plate obscuring device” as any manual, electronic, or mechanical gadget that hides, flips, or covers a plate, or otherwise blocks scanners from reading it.
Under this section:
- Owning or purchasing one is a second-degree misdemeanor.
- Selling or distributing one is a first-degree misdemeanor.
- Using one to help commit or conceal another crime is a third-degree felony, punishable by up to five years in prison. (leg.state.fl.us – § 320.262)
The Real Goal: Uninterrupted Surveillance
State officials insist this is about safety and reducing hit-and-runs, but the timing and structure of the law tell a different story. Florida already has one of the most extensive license plate reader (LPR) networks in the country. Flock Safety cameras are mounted on traffic lights, neighborhood entrances, and even private driveways, feeding real-time data to police, homeowners’ associations, and private security companies.
Each scan captures a plate number, timestamp, GPS coordinates, and direction of travel. Over time, these scans build a detailed log of where a vehicle has been and when.
By criminalizing any obstruction of a license plate, the state guarantees the data stays clean. Every trip becomes traceable. Every movement can be indexed and recalled.
This isn’t about making roads safer. It’s about protecting the integrity of the surveillance system.
The Broader Pattern
Florida’s move fits a national trend where privacy-related actions are reframed as suspicious behavior. Blocking a camera, refusing a digital ID, or covering a tag can now bring criminal consequences. Each new “public safety” law closes another loophole that once allowed ordinary people to exist outside the data stream.
In practice, this one ensures that every plate remains perfectly visible to corporate sensors and police databases. And since those networks increasingly overlap, that visibility now extends far beyond the roads.
Why It Matters
The right to move freely without being tracked is a cornerstone of privacy. When a state begins criminalizing any attempt to reduce visibility, it sends a clear message about who these systems are built to serve.
Flock Safety and similar companies market their cameras as tools to stop crime. What they actually create is an infrastructure of constant identification – one that captures the innocent and the guilty alike, with no clear limits on how long the data stays or who can access it.
Florida’s new law guarantees that infrastructure never goes blind.
It is not a victory for safety. It is a victory for surveillance.