"Data brokers are part of a worldwide multibillion-dollar industry of companies that profit from hoarding and selling access to huge amounts of Americans' personal, financial, and granular location information, often collected from phones and other devices connected to the internet. This data gets sold, including to governments, who don't need a warrant for commercially obtainable data. The collection of huge banks of data also comes with its own risks, including security lapses and data breaches."
"Information bought by data brokers has been used to dox people, and in recent cases linked to the recent murders of two Minnesota state lawmakers, whose killer allegedly obtained their home addresses from data brokers."
""Members of Congress should not receive special treatment," Wyden said on the Senate floor. "Our constituents deserve protection from violence, stalking, and other criminal threats." "Protecting everyone is the most effective way to protect U.S. military and intelligence personnel, including undercover officers," Wyden added, per the congressional record."
Sen. Ron Wyden sought unanimous consent to pass S.2850, which would extend bipartisan protections that stop data brokers from selling personal information about lawmakers, officials, and their families to every person in the United States. Sen. Ted Cruz was the sole senator to object, claiming without evidence the bill could impede law enforcement, such as locating sexual predators. Wyden argued that protecting everyone better safeguards constituents and U.S. military and intelligence personnel, including undercover officers. Data brokers operate a multibillion-dollar market selling personal and location data collected from devices, creating risks like breaches, doxxing, and links to violent attacks. Cruz also objected to a second bill Wyden introduced soon after.
Read at TechCrunch
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