Key Vote YES on the Fourth Amendment Is Not for Sale Act, H.R. 4639
On behalf of our activist community, I urge you to contact your representative and ask him or her to vote YES on the Fourth Amendment Is Not for Sale Act, H.R. 4639. While we had hoped there would be a comprehensive reform before Section 702 in the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act expired, that hope was eclipsed by Speaker Johnson’s efforts to bring forward the Reforming Intelligence and Securing America Act without any substantive reforms.
The Fourth Amendment Is Not for Sale Act provides at least a small step forward toward data privacy by requiring judicial oversight for any data purchase by the government. While it may not completely dismantle private sector surveillance, it does help prevent the government from weaponizing it against American citizens.
Data brokers regularly buy and sell consumer data. What may seem like innocuous clicks on ads is actually a robust and comprehensive private sector surveillance apparatus. Not only are clicks on ads tracked, but movements are tracked, interests are logged, preferences are noted, and profiles are built on each individual. This data can then be augmented by other data from public records, mortgage brokers, and others.
Normally, if police were to collect this sort of location information, they would need a warrant signed by a judge. However, because of the third-party doctrine and the lack of a uniform digital privacy statute, law enforcement is currently able to purchase this data freely on the open market from these third-party brokers. Were you at a protest? Guess what, the police can buy that location data. For the price of a used Honda Civic, law enforcement can buy an annual subscription with unlimited users and unlimited searches.
Section 702 of FISA has been a problematic code section since its inception. There’s been spying on donors to a congressional campaign, individuals engaged in lawful First Amendment activities, journalists, and Members of Congress, all without a warrant. But this isn’t even FISA. This is commercially available data on over 250 million digital devices, which you know is about the voting-age-eligible population of the United States in 2022.
For these reasons, I urge you to call your representative and ask him or her to vote YES on the Fourth Amendment Is Not for Sale Act, H.R. 4639. FreedomWorks will count these votes on our 2024 Congressional Scorecard and reserves the right to score and weigh any related votes. The scorecard is used to determine eligibility for the FreedomFighter Award, which recognizes Members of the House and Senate who consistently vote to support economic freedom and individual liberty.
Sincerely,
Adam Brandon
President, FreedomWorks
