House Judiciary Passes Bill Targeting Police Data Broker Deals
The House Judiciary Committee passed legislation Wednesday that would ban law enforcement and intelligence agencies from buying consumer data from brokers without a warrant (see 2307180064). Rep. Hank Johnson, D-Ga., voted “present,” making him the only member not to support the Fourth Amendment Is Not for Sale Act (HR-4639). He defended the FBI during Friday’s hearing on reauthorizing the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act.
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Sens. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., and Rand Paul, R-Ky., introduced a Senate version of the legislation in 2021. The House version was introduced by Reps. Warren Davidson, R-Ohio; Jerry Nadler, D-N.Y.; Andy Biggs, R-Ariz.; Zoe Lofgren, D-Calif; Ken Buck, R-Colo.; Pramila Jayapal, D-Wash.; Thomas Massie, R-Ky.; and Sara Jacobs, D-Calif.
Nadler said the FBI buying American data is “especially troubling.” He noted the FBI, Drug Enforcement Administration and Immigration and Customs Enforcement contract with a data broker that sources location data from more than 80,000 apps. The information is so precise that agencies can track individuals’ location within houses and businesses, he said.
House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, noted FBI Director Christopher Wray publicly dodged questions from members on whether the FBI continues to buy datasets from brokers. Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., said Wray told the committee it’s a complicated issue and the FBI would be willing to brief members in private. “It doesn’t really seem that complicated to me,” said Gaetz. “You either have probable cause and get a warrant or you don’t. And if you don’t, you shouldn’t be able to use these data brokers to violate” constitutional rights.
Lofgren said her office is still waiting for the FBI to follow up with information about its data purchasing. Passing this bill is a good start, but Congress needs to reform FISA Section 702, she said. A bipartisan group of members is trying to put together more comprehensive legislation on privacy violations involving law enforcement surveillance, she said. Jordan agreed with Lofgren about the need to “dramatically change” Section 702.
Wyden said he looks forward to advancing his own bill in the Senate and will release a comprehensive surveillance reform bill in coming weeks. “Regular Americans who use their phones on a daily basis are not consenting to send all their movements, contacts and web browsing information to the government,” he said.
Jayapal said she appreciated the majority’s “swift” work to mark up the legislation: It’s unacceptable that the intelligence community is spending “millions of taxpayer dollars” to buy the data. Data brokers claim the data they sell is made anonymous, but even the Office of the Director of National Intelligence admitted it’s frequently possible to identify individuals through the data, she said. It’s not possible to live modern life and avoid data collection by cellphone service providers and social media apps, said Rep. Sheila Jackson, Lee, D-Texas.
The legislation will require police to get a court order to get access to data brokers' datasets, which is the same standard for wiretaps, noted Biggs. Passing the Fourth Amendment Is Not for Sale Act is a “critical step” in limiting law enforcement’s “warrantless surveillance” of American citizens, he said.