Flock cameras have a new opponent in Montana: a Senate candidate with a shotgun

Seth Bodnar pulls a shotgun from the back of his truck, lines up his mark on a tree stump with a bag of flour set behind, takes aim, and pulls the trigger.

Or a stand-in for one at least. Bodnar, an Independent running for US Senate in Montana, performed the stunt in a new campaign ad shared this week. The veteran and former University of Montana president told Business Insider that Flock cameras are an issue on which voters across the political spectrum can agree.

"This isn't an issue that's about left or right," he said. "This is about individual freedom."

Bodnar said he put out the video because Montanans have told him they don't want a corporation logging every trip they take, whether it's to church, the doctor, the gun store, or a friend's house.

They're not alone. Flock Safety has drawn the ire of Americans across the country, who have taken issue with the company's automated license-plate readers, which are found in thousands of communities in the US.

Trump says he "likes" Flock cameras. I say "Flock off." pic.twitter.com/NekA0w4VJd

In addition to privacy concerns, critics have pointed to cases in which the tech has misidentified plates or police have misused the data, like by monitoring an ex. A Business Insider investigation found several cases where police using Flock wrongfully targeted or arrested a person who had not committed a crime.

Flock and police departments have said the technology has been helpful in addressing crime, including vehicle break-ins, and finding missing people. Last month, the company rolled out new guardrails, such as reducing the default retention period for data, in response to the backlash. Some local and state jurisdictions have also responded by cutting their use of Flock.

Bodnar said he supports the bipartisan Flock-Off Act, introduced this month by Reps. Thomas Massie and Eric Burlison, which is intended to cut federal funding used for automated license-plate readers and biometric surveillance cameras.

He thinks the federal government should go further, calling the proposed act a "starting point." While he does not want Flock cameras banned, he said there could be national standards for the technology, such as how long data is stored, restrictions on how the data can be used, required audits, and penalties for misuse. He also said rules should be set for how data collected by private cameras, such as those belonging to retailers rather than law enforcement, can be used.

"We should also close the private camera loophole so police can't use a retailer's camera to do without a warrant what they shouldn't be able to do," he said.

Bodnar is running to replace retiring Republican Sen. Steve Daines this November. A Montana Free Press-Rutgers Eagleton poll released last week found Republican Kurt Alme had an 8-point lead over Bodnar, with Democratic and Libertarian candidates trailing further behind.