U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) and U.S. Rep. Mary Gay Scanlon (D-PA) have introduced legislation that would ban data brokers from selling or transferring Americans’ health and location data.
The Health and Location Data Protection Act would prevent data brokers from gathering personal information and selling it to willing buyers, and would give the Federal Communications Commission 180 days to implement the legislation if it passes. Currently, data brokers are largely unregulated by federal law and are able to gather information about a person’s location and search history through unassuming sources like weather or prayer apps, often without the users’ consent or knowledge.
Officials said that data is sometimes sold in bulk for profit to any willing buyer. The lack of regulation allows data gathered and sold by brokers to out LGBTQ+ Americans, and for others to use the information to stalk and harass individuals. Some brokers have even been caught selling cell phone-based location data of people visiting abortion clinics, putting them in danger.
“Americans deserve to know that their most sensitive and personal information is safe, not exploited for profit,” Scanlon said. “As extremist Republicans attempt to criminalize or ban abortion and other critical, life-saving healthcare, we need to rein in this invasion of Americans’ privacy with a clear set of rules and standards to prevent profiting off of highly personal and sensitive data without consumer consent. I’m proud to lead the Health and Location Data Protection Act to stop data-brokers from profiting off Americans’ vulnerabilities.”
The legislation would also empower the FTC, state attorneys general and injured persons to sue to enforce the law, as well as provide $1 billion in funding to the FTC over the next decade to enforce the law, as well as carry out other work.
U.S. Reps. Nydia Velázquez (D-NY), Adriano Espaillat (D-NY), Pramila Jayapal (D-WA), and Rashdia Tlaib (D-MI) support the legislation.
“Three years after Dobbs, the threat to Americans’ privacy has only grown — and data brokers are still profiting off it,” Velázquez said. “From health records to location data to information people enter into AI systems, the most sensitive details of our lives remain up for sale.”
The bill is endorsed by National Partnership for Women & Families, Reproductive Freedom for All, All* Above All, Guttmacher Institute, National Network of Abortion Funds, National Council of Jewish Women, and URGE: Unite for Reproductive & Gender Equity.