100 signatures reached
To: Congress
Tell Congress: Close the Data Broker Loophole!
We demand that Congress take swift action now to close the Data Broker Loophole that agencies like ICE, CBP, FBI and more exploit to bypass the 4th Amendment and warrantlessly spy on everyday people’s location and online activity.
Why is this important?
When families expecting a child post to pregnancy websites like BabyCenter, they might not know that ICE is watching them. That’s because ICE contracts a data broker to scrape thousands of social media sites, gaming platforms, and even financial apps like CashApp.
Why does ICE need to know when your baby is due, what video games you like to play, or where are you planning your next vacation?
ICE doesn’t need this personal information about us, but because there’s a legal loophole, they can and do get access to a lot of our online activity. Congress must act now to close the Data Broker Loophole.
Sign the petition: Tell Congress to close the Data Broker Loophole!
ICE can reach into our personal online activity because they don’t do the spying themselves. Instead they contract out shady third party data brokers who do their spying for them and then give them wide access to everything they find.
You’ve likely never heard of these companies, but they’ve probably already know a lot about you. For instance, ShadowDragon, the data broker ICE uses that scrapes data from BabyCenter. ShadowDragon doesn’t stop at pregnancy websites. According to their own internal videos and events, they scrape data from all the major social media platforms; gaming platforms like Fortnite, XBOX, and Playstation; review sites like Yelp and Tripadvisor; messaging apps like WhatsApp; even financial transaction apps like CashApp.
The Fourth Amendment right against illegal government search and seizure needs to apply to the internet. That’s why Congress needs to act now to close the Data Broker Loophole.
Sign the petition: Tell Congress to close the Data Broker Loophole!
Sources:
1. 404 Media, “Inside ShadowDragon, The Tool That Lets ICE Monitor Pregnancy Tracking Sites and Fortnite Players,” September 18, 2023.