PPSA Joins with Seven Other Civil Liberties Leaders to Urge Chair Nadler to Hold Hearings on The Fourth Amendment Is Not for Sale Act

​The Project for Privacy and Surveillance Accountability today joined with seven other major civil liberties organizations to urge House Judiciary Committee Chair Jerry Nadler to hold hearings on The Fourth Amendment Is Not for Sale Act (H.R. 2738) in early 2022.
 
The coalition letter notes that many law enforcement and intelligence agencies allege they can lawfully avoid the constitutional requirement for probable cause warrants by simply buying our personal information from commercial data brokers. They can do this, they claim, because the relevant federal statutes were written at a time when apps and digital brokers did not exist and therefore do not specifically prohibit such actions.
 
As a result, the federal government skirts the Fourth Amendment by buying Americans’ personal information that can reveal our “activities, associations, and even beliefs.”
 
The letter praises Chair Nadler’s long history of leadership on surveillance and privacy issues. The coalition asserts that hearings in the House Judiciary Committee in early 2022 would underscore the disturbing reality behind government data purchases, perhaps uncover new facts, and encourage the passage of The Fourth Amendment Is Not For Sale Act in the coming session.
 
In addition to PPSA, the letter was signed by the American Civil Liberties Union, Americans for Prosperity, Brennan Center for Justice, Demand Progress, Due Process Institute, Free Press Action and FreedomWorks.

READ THE LETTER HERE