Washington, D.C. – U.S. Senators Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), and Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.) said today they have reintroduced legislation banning data brokers from selling Americans’ sensitive personal information.
Data gathered by brokers has been used to circumvent the Fourth Amendment, out LGBTQ+ Americans, and stalk and harass individuals. Recently, some brokers have been caught selling the cellphone-based location data of people visiting abortion clinics, risking the safety and security of women seeking basic health care.
The $200 billion industry is largely unregulated by federal law. Data brokers gather personal data, such as location data from weather or prayer apps, often without consumers’ consent or knowledge. Brokers sell this data in bulk to virtually any willing buyer, reaping massive profits. These predatory and invasive practices pose real dangers to Americans’ privacy and safety.
“The ability to buy the information of women who visit abortion clinics and track them back to their homes is everything a repressive right-wing prosecutor could dream of,” Wyden said. “This isn’t hypothetical either: far-right activists have already paid data brokers to target women who visit abortion clinics on their personal electronic devices with misinformation about their reproductive choices. It’s high time for Congress to put privacy first and crack down on the shady data brokers who are selling sensitive personal data to make a quick buck.”
“Data brokers are raking in giant profits from selling Americans’ most private information – even location tracking data from visits to clinics for reproductive care,” Warren said. “As Republicans ramp up efforts to criminalize abortion, it’s more important than ever to crack down on greedy data brokers and protect Americans’ privacy.”
The Health and Location Data Protection Act would:
- Ban data brokers from selling or transferring health and location data and require the Federal Trade Commission to promulgate rules to implement the law within 180 days, while making exceptions for HIPAA-compliant activities, protected First Amendment speech, and validly authorized disclosures.
- Ensure robust enforcement of the bill’s provisions by empowering the FTC, state attorneys general, and injured persons to sue to enforce the provisions of the law.
- Provide $1 billion to the FTC over the next decade to carry out its work, including enforcement of this law.
Text of the bill is here.
A one-page summary of the bill is here.
A web version of this release is here.