Before Reauthorizing Government Spying Powers, Congress Must Close Data Broker Loophole
Washington, D.C. — On Thursday, a coalition of more than 130 leading AI, civil rights, tech and progressive organizations convened by Demand Progress and the Project On Government Oversight sent a letter opposing Speaker Johnson’s just-announced plans to ram controversial surveillance legislation through the House next week. The 133 signers include: AFT, Color of Change, Future of Life Institute, Indivisible, Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, MoveOn, Stop AAPI Hate and UnidosUS.
“By rushing to renew FISA without any reforms, Congress is poised to allow AI companies and government agencies to supercharge mass domestic surveillance systems with our location and web browsing data—all without a warrant or any involvement from the courts,” said Demand Progress Executive Director Sean Vitka. “The American people do not want the government to bypass the courts and buy our private information in bulk from data brokers. To protect Americans’ privacy, our Fourth Amendment rights and the fundamental liberties that privacy protects, Congress must close the data broker loophole before renewing the government’s surveillance power.”
The coalition urges congressional leaders to prohibit government agencies from buying information about Americans without court orders—a.k.a. closing the data broker loophole—before renewing the government’s warrantless FISA surveillance authorities. This loophole allows the government to bypass courts and independent oversight, at the same time the Pentagon is requiring the AI companies it contracts with to “allow for the collection and analysis of unclassified, commercial bulk data on Americans, such as geolocation and web browsing data.” Yesterday, Director Kash Patel also admitted the FBI now purchases location information from data brokers.
As soon as next week, the House will vote on whether to reauthorize an extremely controversial warrantless spying authority, also known as Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA). The groups’ letter warns of a looming and unprecedented threat to Americans’ civil liberties: government agencies’ use of lawlessly acquired data broker information about Americans to supercharge domestic mass surveillance.
Demand Progress recently released a poll showing that only 12 percent of voters think Congress should renew FISA without reforms. Conversely, 37 percent of voters think FISA should only be renewed with significant reforms—namely to stop the government from buying data broker information without court orders—and another 37 percent think FISA should not be renewed at all.
“The law simply has not kept pace with the rapidly growing capabilities of AI,” states the letter. “We should all share the fear that powerful AI makes it possible to conduct invasive surveillance at unprecedented scale, and that these tools pose serious risks to our fundamental liberties. Congress must ensure that legal safeguards to prevent the abuse of AI surveillance technology are in place as soon as possible.”
The 133 signers of the letter include:
18 Million Rising, AAPI NJ, AAPI Youth Rising, Access Now, ACLU, Advocacy for Principled Action in Government, AFT, AI Now Institute, All Girls Allowed, The Alliance for Secure AI, Amazon Employees for Climate Justice, American Governance Institute, Americans for Financial Reform, Amnesty International USA, Antiwar.com, Asian American Federal Employees for Non-discrimination, Asian Americans Advancing Justice | AAJC, Asian Americans Leadership Coalition, Asian Americans United, Asian American Unity Coalition, Asian Law Alliance, Asian Texans for Justice, AWK Survivor Advocate Attorneys PLLC, Black Voters Matter Fund, Brennan Center for Justice, Center for AI and Digital Policy (CAIDP), The Center for Biological Diversity, Center for Democracy & Technology, Center for Digital Democracy, Center for Media and Democracy, Charity & Security Network, Church Women United in New York State, Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW), CleanElections Texas, Color of Change, Common Cause, Connecticut Voices for Children, Consumer Action, Consumer Federation of America, Courage California, Dance/USA, Data & Society, Defending Rights & Dissent, Demand Progress, Dignidad/The Right to Immigration Institute, Due Process Institute, East Valley Indivisibles, Sherman Oaks, CA, Eisenhower Media Network, Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC), Encode AI, Fight for the Future, Four Norms, Free Press Action, Freedom of the Press Foundation, Friends of the Earth US, Future of Life Institute, Good Egg Solutions, Government Information Watch, Grassroots Democrats HQ, Hands Off Central TX-Indivisible, Hmong Innovating Politics, Holy Spirit Missionary Sisters, USA-JPIC, Indivisible, Indivisible EMF — Edgewood, Milton, & Fife, WA, Justice Is Global, Kapor Center Advocacy, Lake Research Partners, Law Enforcement Action Partnership, Lawyers for Good Government, Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, Libertas Institute, Long Beach Alliance for Clean Energy, Lucy Parsons Labs, Mass 50501, MoveOn, Muslim Advocates, Muslims for Just Futures, Muslim Justice League, National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, National Consumer Law Center (on behalf of its low-income clients), National Consumers League, National Organization for Women, National Tongan American Society, New America’s Open Technology Institute, New Jersey Appleseed Public Interest Law Center, Nikkei Progressives, No Tech for Apartheid, NTEN, Nuclear Watch South, Oakland Privacy, OCA-CVC, OCA-Greater Seattle, OCA Greater Tucson, OCA Silicon Valley, Ohio Nuclear Free Network, Open MIC (Open Media and Information Companies Initiative), OpenMedia, Oregon Consumer Justice, Oregon Consumer League, P Street, Parabola Center for Law and Policy, Parent Coalition for Student Privacy, Partnership for the Future of Learning, Peace Action, People Power United, Progressive Democrats of America, Progressive Leadership Alliance of Nevada, Project On Government Oversight, Public Knowledge, Reporters Without Borders (RSF), Restore The Fourth, RootsAction, Snake River Alliance, South Asian Network, Stand.earth, Stop AAPI Hate, Surveillance Technology Oversight Project, Temple University Institute for Law, Innovation & Technology, Thai Community Development Center (Thai CDC), Tech Justice Law, Tech Workers Coalition, UltraViolet Action, UnidosUS, United Church of Christ, Media Justice, Ministry University of Houston-Downtown, Voice for Justice Law PLLC, We2, Welcoming America, Wenatchee for Palestine, Whole Whale, Wikimedia Foundation, Win Without War and X-Lab.