Reps. Warren Davidson (R-OH) and Sara Jacobs (D-CA) introduced an amendment that would bar the federal government from buying Americans’ private information, which privacy advocates say is a run around the Fourth Amendment.
Davidson and Jacobs hope the attachment to the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), a must-pass spending bill. The amendment has garnered an increasing amount of support.
“Warrantless mass surveillance infringes the Constitutionally protected right to privacy,” Davidson said. “The amendment, he says, is aimed chiefly at preventing the government from “circumventing the Fourth Amendment” by purchasing “your location data, browsing history, or what you look at online.”
Warrantless mass surveillance infringes the Constitutionally protected right to privacy.
Our amendment prevents the government from circumventing the 4th amendment by prohibiting data purchases from big tech that would otherwise require a warrant.https://t.co/hYXdAgrpJ4
— Warren Davidson 🇺🇸 (@WarrenDavidson) July 5, 2023
“Our search/browsing history and location data should be off-limits to the government – but it’s not,” Jacobs wrote. “That’s why I’m proud to work with @WarrenDavidson to rein in mass surveillance and stop warrantless searches and seizures of our private information.”
Our search/browsing history and location data should be off-limits to the government – but it’s not. That’s why I’m proud to work with @WarrenDavidson to rein in mass surveillance and stop warrantless searches and seizures of our private information.https://t.co/nMwKBUZoeS
— Congresswoman Sara Jacobs (@RepSaraJacobs) July 5, 2023
Jacobs and Davidson proposed the amendment after an Office of the Director of National Intelligence report found that intelligence and law enforcement agencies have bought data on Americans.
Rep. Andy Biggs (R-AZ) told Breitbart News that this practice is a “deliberate” run around constitutional protections against warrantless searches.
The Davidson-Jacobs amendment would bar law enforcement agencies from exchanging “anything of value” for information that would require a warrant, court order, or subpoena. This would include web browsing and Internet search data, location data, and other information derived from cell phones.
Reps. Nancy Mace (R-SC), Kelly Armstrong (R-ND), Ben Cline (R-VA), Pramila Jayapal (D-WA), Zoe Lofgren (D-CA), and Veronica Escobar (D-TX) have backed the amendment.
Jacobs and Davidson last year proposed an amendment that would force the U.S. military to disclose how often it purchases American cell phone and web browsing data. It was not included in last year’s NDAA.
During a hearing in March, Cline pressed Department of Justice Inspector General Michael Horowitz over the FBI’s purchase of American geolocation data. He asked if other parts of the Justice Department are engaging in this practice.
House Appropriations Committee / YouTube
Cline then pressed Attorney General Merrick Garland during a House Appropriations Committee hearing over this controversy.
Cline asked Garland if he agreed with Horowitz that purchasing Americans’ private data should not have happened post-Carpenter v. United States. Carpenter v. United States was a landmark 2018 Supreme Court ruling that held that the United States government needed a search warrant to track suspects for an extended period from cellphone carriers.
House Appropriations Committee / YouTube
Sean Moran is a policy reporter for Breitbart News. Follow him on Twitter @SeanMoran3.