U.S. Congress members to propose legislation to curb police access to data brokers

According to the Verge, U.S. Senators Ron Wyden, D-Ore., and Rand Paul, R-Ky., and 18 other senators, have introduced a bill banning police from buying access to user data from data brokers, including ones that “illegitimately obtained” their records. The Fourth Amendment is Not for Sale Act intends to close 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. The Fourth Amendment is Not For Sale Act could require the government to get a court order to compel data brokers to disclose data — the same kind of court order needed to compel data from tech and phone companies. It would also stop law enforcement and intelligence agencies buying data on people in the U.S. and about Americans abroad, if the data was obtained from a user’s account or device, or via deception, hacking, violations of a contract, privacy policy, or terms of service. As such, this bill prevents the government buying data from Clearview.AI.