| Friend,
Right now, federal agencies have access to your moment-to-moment location data. They get this, in part, from the apps you download on your phone or tablet. Something as innocuous as a flashlight app can access and sell your data to various actors. One of the most alarming examples of this is the revelation that the U.S. military has been extracting location data from a Muslim prayer app to surveil the Muslim community.1
This kind of tracking is an abuse of power and a violation of our Fourth Amendment right to privacy. Sen. Wyden has just introduced a bill that would stop this practice and others like it in their tracks.2Tell Congress to pass the Fourth Amendment Is Not for Sale Act.
A harsh truth is that regardless of which party is in power, immigrant communities and people of color are disproportionately targeted, surveilled and tracked. ICE and U.S. Customs and Border Protection regularly purchase location-tracking data from shady “data mining” tech companies.3 The privacy and civil-rights implications of this are staggering — and mean that the communities that were targeted most by the Trump administration remain at risk under the Biden administration.
Federal agencies have found a way to bypass the Fourth Amendment and are spying on the location data of immigrant communities, Muslims and other communities of color without a warrant. Tell your senators and representatives to pass the Fourth Amendment Is Not for Sale Act to stop these abusive spying practices.
It’s our responsibility to hold our government accountable for harmful practices — especially when such practices violate the civil rights and privacy rights of communities of color and religious minorities.
Thanks for all you do,
Lucia, Sandy and the rest of the Free Press Action team
freepress.net
P.S. Join us in telling companies and the U.S. government that our privacy is not for sale. Tell Congress to pass the Fourth Amendment Is not for Sale Act, which will put a stop to abusive data-mining and surveillance practices.
1. “How the U.S. Military Buys Location Data from Ordinary Apps,” Motherboard, Nov. 16, 2020 2. “Wyden, Paul and Bipartisan Members of Congress Introduce The Fourth Amendment Is Not For Sale Act,” Office of Sen. Ron Wyden, April 21, 2021 3. “DHS Authorities Are Buying Moment-By-Moment Geolocation Cellphone Data to Track People,” BuzzFeed, Oct. 30, 2020  |
