Wyden, Nadler File Bill to Restrict Sale of Americans' Data
House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerry Nadler, D-N.Y., and Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., led filing Wednesday of the Fourth Amendment Is Not for Sale Act in a bid to end a legal loophole that allows data brokers to sell Americans’ personal…
Sign up for a free preview to unlock the rest of this article
Timely, relevant coverage of court proceedings and agency rulings involving tariffs, classification, valuation, origin and antidumping and countervailing duties. Each day, Trade Law Daily subscribers receive a daily headline email, in-depth PDF edition and access to all relevant documents via our trade law source document library and website.
information to law enforcement and intelligence agencies without Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act court oversight. The measure would require the government get a court order to compel data brokers to disclose data. It would bar law enforcement and intelligence agencies from 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 or violations of a contract, privacy policy or terms of service. "The government should not be allowed to purchase its way around the rules Congress has enacted to protect the privacy of American citizens," Nadler said. "There is no end run around" the Fourth Amendment. "Doing business online doesn’t amount to giving the government permission to track your every movement or rifle through the most personal details,” Wyden said. “There’s no reason information scavenged by data brokers should be treated differently than the same data held by your phone company or email provider. This bill closes that legal loophole." Senate co-sponsors include Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y.; Commerce Committee Chair Maria Cantwell, D-Wash.; and Rand Paul, R-Ky. House Administration Committee Chairperson Zoe Lofgren, D-Calif., co-sponsored that chamber's version. The American Civil Liberties Union, Demand Progress, Electronic Frontier Foundation, Free Press, Mozilla, New America's Open Technology Institute and Public Knowledge back the bill.