Daines Introduces Bipartisan Bill To Stop Sale Of Personal Information
U.S. Sen. Steve Daines, R-Mont., has introduced the bipartisan “The Fourth Amendment Is Not For Sale Act,” which would stop the government from circumventing the 4th Amendment by buying Montanans’ personal information from data brokers.
“It’s simple, Montanans’ private information is not for sale. We must close the loopholes that allow the federal government to circumvent the Fourth Amendment and buy Americans’ personal data,” Daines said.
“The Fourth Amendment is Not for Sale Act” closes the legal loophole that allows data brokers to sell Americans’ personal information to law enforcement and intelligence agencies without any court oversight – in contrast to the strict rules for phone companies, social media sites and other businesses that have direct relationships with consumers.
Daines introduced this bill with Sens. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., Rand Paul, R-Ken., and 17 other senators.
“Doing business online doesn’t amount to giving the government permission to track your every movement or rifle through the most personal details of your life,” Wyden said. “There’s no reason information scavenged by data brokers should be treated differently than the same data held by your phone company or email provider. This bill closes that legal loophole and ensures that the government can’t use its credit card to end-run the Fourth Amendment.”
“The Fourth Amendment’s protection against unreasonable search and seizure ensures that the liberty of every American cannot be violated on the whims, or financial transactions, of every government officer,” Paul said. “This critical legislation will put an end to the government’s practice of buying its way around the Bill of Rights by purchasing the personal and location data of everyday Americans. Enacting the Fourth Amendment is Not For Sale Act will not only stop this gross abuse of privacy, but also stands for the fundamental principle that government exists to protect, not trade away, individual rights.” “The federal government should not be allowed to skirt the Fourth Amendment’s existing warrant requirements, and surveillance laws by purchasing Americans’ data from third-party brokers. This legislation will protect the civil liberties of Americans by closing loopholes in existing law,” Lee said.
A broad coalition of civil liberties, civil rights, technology and free speech groups endorsed the legislation, including: Access Now, Accountable Tech, American Civil Liberties Union, Americans for Prosperity, Brennan Center for Justice, Center for Democracy and Technology, Color of Change, Demand Progress, Due Process Institute, Electronic Frontier Foundation, Fight for the Future, Freedom of the Press Foundation, FreedomWorks, Free Press Action, Interactive Advertising Bureau, Just Futures Law, MediaJustice, Mijente, Mozilla, NAACP, National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, Network Advertising Initiative, Open Technology Institute at New America, Open The Government, PEN America, Project on Government Oversight, Public Citizen, Public Knowledge, Project for Privacy, Surveillance Accountability and Restore the Fourth.
