A bill which essentially aims to ban law enforcement and intelligence agencies buy data from Clearview AI won the bipartisan support of 20 senators. If the The Fourth Amendment is not for sale were to pass as is, the agencies would not be able to buy location data third-party brokers without a mandate.
The bill would prevent agencies from buying data about people in the United States and from Americans outside the country if the information was obtained from “a user’s account or device, or by deception. , hacking, breach of contract, privacy policy or terms of service., “according to Office of Senator Ron Wyden. If the bill becomes law, Clearview AI would no longer be able to sell much of the data it obtained to US government agencies.
To power its facial recognition technology, Clearview AI would have scratched billions of images from social media platforms without consent. The tastes of Google, Facebook, Twitter and Venmo sent the company cease and desist letters. The company is using the first amendment as a defense against these claims as well as lawsuits.
Today I introduce my bill to prevent the federal government from using its credit card to end the Fourth Amendment. My # 4thAmendmentIsNotForSale The law will make it illegal for the government to purchase your location data without a warrant.
– Ron Wyden (@RonWyden) April 21, 2021
“Clearview AI only collects publicly available photos from the open internet that are accessible from any computer anywhere in the world,” Clearview AI CEO Hoan Ton-That told Engadget in a statement. “We look forward to working with policymakers on the best ways to protect consumer data and to continue to be a resource for law enforcement to tackle crimes against children, human trafficking, financial fraud and domestic terrorism. While we haven’t seen this particular bill yet, we do plan to review it carefully and provide comments if we have the opportunity. “
The Fourth Amendment Not For Sale Act also seeks to fill loopholes that allow intelligence agencies to obtain metadata about Americans’ calls, emails and texts to loved ones outside the country without review by the FISA Court. In addition, the bill extends current privacy laws to businesses that own cell towers and data cables and seeks to tackle surveillance on a few other fronts.
House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerry Nadler and House Administration Committee Chairman Zoe Lofgren stand ready to present a version of the bill to the House, as Motherboard Remarks. In addition to sponsoring a fifth of the senators, Wyden’s office says a number of civil liberties, civil rights, tech and free speech groups support the legislation. They include the American Civil Liberties Union, Color of Change, Electronic Frontier Foundation, Fight for the Future, Freedom of the Press Foundation, Mozilla, NAACP, and Project on Government Oversight.
“Doing business online is not about giving the government permission to follow your every move or fight through the most personal details of your life,” Wyden said in a statement. “There is no reason why information collected by data brokers should be treated any differently from the same data held by your telephone company or email provider. This bill closes that legal loophole and ensures that the government cannot use its credit card to end the Fourth Amendment.
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