A bipartisan group of Congressional lawmakers proposed a new bill Wednesday that would ban federal law enforcement and intelligence agencies from buying user data collected from smartphones, social media and other digital sources from third-party data brokers.
The “The Fourth xo slot Amendment Is Not For Sale Act” calls for government agencies to obtain a court order before accessing personal information collected online, including geolocation information and electronic surveillance data.
“[The bill] closes the legal loophole that allows data brokers to sell Americans' personal information to law enforcement and intelligence agencies without any court oversight,” Sen. Ron Wyden of Oregon said in the press release Wednesday.
“Doing business online doesn broadcast amount to giving the government permission to track your every movement or rifle through the most personal details of your life,” Wyden added.
Clearview AI, a facial-recognition software company, was specifically named as a data collector whose data should be protected from being sold to the government due to privacy concerns, according to the press release.
The New York Times reported in January 2020 that Clearview AI's system includes an extensive database of more than three billion images that have been taken from social media accounts and millions of other websites without user's knowledge.
Although the software has reportedly been used to solve some crimes, along with data privacy concerns, it could potentially lead to the misidentification of suspects as well, according to The New York Times.
