[US News] Even the Government Thinks It Should Stop Buying Corporate Surveillance Data

• The Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) released a report in June that found that U.S. government intelligence agencies are buying data about us from private surveillance companies.

• This is a dangerous practice because it allows the government to surveil us without following basic constitutional safeguards, like obtaining warrants.

• The report warned that when the government buys data about us, it can be "misused to pry into private lives, ruin reputations, and cause emotional distress and threaten the safety of individuals."

• The government's purchases of corporate surveillance data are pervasive. Intelligence agencies are buying up so much data that ODNI was not able to comprehensively review all the purchases.

• The report called for intelligence agencies to do more to consider the privacy impact of buying and using commercial data.

• It also called for intelligence agencies to conduct a sweeping review to understand how they are buying and using commercial surveillance data.

• However, the report does not solve the problems it identifies. It is not binding on the Director of National Intelligence or her successors, and it fails to disavow government use of commercial surveillance data.

• Instead, we need changes across government. Legislatures need to pass strong consumer data privacy legislation, so that data brokers have less data to sell the government.

• Legislatures also need to pass statutory limits on the government, to prevent them from using data brokers to dodge search warrant requirements, and to stop them using reverse warrants.

• Courts should respect Fourth Amendment precedent by continuing to disallow the government from buying personal data without a warrant.

In conclusion, the government's purchase of corporate surveillance data is a dangerous practice that threatens our privacy and civil liberties. We need changes across government to prevent this from happening.