Congress, Take Note – Americans Are Worried About Their Personal Data

​As Congress prepares to debate the reauthorization of FISA Section 702, lawmakers should understand one simple fact: Americans do not trust the government with their data. A new poll shows that 74 percent of Americans are concerned about the privacy and security of their personal data in government hands.
 
The poll, released last week by the Center for Democracy & Technology (CDT), shows that 79 percent of respondents agreed that: “Congress should use its authority to hold the government accountable when it ignores privacy laws.”
 
“People want their privacy protected,” said CDT’s Elizabeth Laird, “and bipartisan majorities want their elected leaders to do something about it. Lawmakers who ignore privacy are significantly out of step with their constituents.”
 
The high level of public concern about the warrantless access by government agencies to Americans’ data – at the heart of the Section 702 debate – was consistent regardless of respondents’ political affiliation or age group. The survey also revealed specific concerns about how that data is used – and misused:
 
68 percent are concerned about personal data being shared with law enforcement across the federal, state, and local levels
 
67 percent are concerned about personal data being shared with the Department of Homeland Security
 
83 percent are concerned about a breach of a government database exposing their personal data
 
73 percent agree that, without privacy laws, government agencies would track and monitor anyone they choose
 
44 percent say they would forgo government benefits rather than risk misuse of their personal data
 
These numbers are a warning. Poll after poll has shown that Americans across the political spectrum are deeply uneasy about how the government collects, searches, and uses their data. That concern is especially acute when it comes to warrantless searches of Americans’ communications under Section 702 – so-called “backdoor searches” that bypass the Fourth Amendment.
 
Nor are these fears hypothetical. From millions of warrantless queries in recent years to the government’s routine purchase of Americans’ data from brokers, the gap between surveillance authorities and constitutional protections has become impossible to ignore. If “trust is the lifeblood of democracy,” then these findings suggest that America is running dangerously low.
 
Congress now faces a choice. It can once again rush through a “clean” reauthorization of Section 702, ignoring both public opinion and constitutional concerns. Or it can act – by requiring warrants for searches of Americans’ communications, closing the data broker loophole, and imposing real oversight.
 
Fortunately, the path forward is clear:
 
—Reform Section 702.
 
—Restore the warrant requirement.
 
—Rebuild public trust.

DONATE & HELP US DEFEND YOUR FOURTH AMENDMENT RIGHTS