Call Your U.S. House Rep Now and Say: “Vote for the Fourth Amendment Is Not For Sale Act”

Our digital traces can be put together to tell the stories of our lives. They reveal our financial and health status, our romantic activities, our religious beliefs and practices, and our political beliefs and activities.
 
Our location histories are no less personal. Data from the apps on our phone record where we go and with whom we meet. Taken all together, our data creates a portrait of our lives that is more intimate than a diary.
 
Incredibly, such information is, in turn, sold by data brokers to the FBI, IRS, the Drug Enforcement Administration, the Department of Defense, the Department of Homeland Security, and other federal agencies to freely access. The Constitution’s Fourth Amendment forbids such unreasonable searches and seizures. Yet federal agencies maintain they have the right to collect and examine our personal information – without warrants.
 
A recent report from the Office of the Director of National Intelligence shows that:

• Federal agencies collect bankruptcy information, employment history and income, credit histories, consumer purchase histories, and consumer interests.

 

• Agencies acquire records about ethnicities, possible criminal records, voting registration, travel records, and attorney-client information.

 

• Agencies purchase information about our medical and mental health, religious activities, browsing histories, and library records, communications with friends, expressions of political views, our associates, and details about our sex lives.

 

• The authors of the report frankly admit that this information “could be used, for example, to identify every person who attended a protest or rally based on their smartphone location or ad-tracking records.”

 

• Such information could be used to “facilitate blackmail, stalking, harassment, and public shaming.” 

 
The American people are alarmed. Eighty percent of Americans in a recent YouGov poll say Congress should require government agencies to obtain a warrant before purchasing location information, internet records, and other sensitive data about people in the U.S. from data brokers.
 
The Fourth Amendment Is Not For Sale Act now up for a vote in the House would prohibit law enforcement and intelligence agencies from purchasing certain sensitive information from third-party sellers, including geolocation information and communications-related information that is protected under the Electronic Communications Privacy Act, and information obtained from illicit data scraping. This bill balances Americans’ civil liberties with national security, giving law enforcement and intelligence agencies the ability to access this information with a warrant, court order, or subpoena.
 
Call your U.S. House Representative and say:
 
“Please protect my privacy by voting for the Fourth Amendment Is Not For Sale Act.”

CALL OR EMAIL YOUR US REP HERE