You can’t put a price on our constitution, but police these days can circumvent it, as long as they’re willing to pay. This is the absurd logic law enforcement agencies employ with data broker purchases, in which officers buy your cell phone location data from firms that offer it up to the highest bidder, and all without any court oversight. We know these data purchases have impacted tens of millions, but we actually have no way to know just whose data they’ve purchased.

And it’s not just police, agencies ranging from the U.S. Military to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) have done the exact same thing. If officers want to take your computer or phone, they need a warrant, but if they pay a data broker for private, sensitive data, that’s fair game — at least for now.

A new bill, The Fourth Amendment Is Not For Sale Act, recently introduced by Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) and a broad, bipartisan set of cosponsors could put an end to the practice. Under the bill, police would be barred from buying data they aren’t otherwise entitled to access. The bill could finally put a stop to the practice that is putting Americans at risk and making data brokers rich.

thehill.com

Our growing dependence on big tech makes it easier for police to track more and more of us with less and less effort.