Data privacy has become a key concern for both individuals and societies in our linked world. Protecting sensitive data has become a critical concern with the development of digital technologies and the growing collection and storage of personal information. Although the Biden administration has lately taken steps to protect specific categories of personal data from governmental encroachment, a sizable gap in data privacy has not yet been filled. This gap results from the fact that, despite being forbidden from doing so, the government is nonetheless allowed to buy such data through independent data brokers. This article examines the effects of this flaw and the requirement for comprehensive regulation to safeguard personal information.

The government is prohibited by the US Constitution from coercing firms into disclosing sensitive personal information about individuals without following due process. This constitutional provision guarantees that citizens’ rights to privacy be upheld and avoids unjustified intrusions into private affairs. This protection, however, does not stop the government from buying data that has already been gathered and sold by outside data brokers.

What Data Brokers Do

Data brokers gather and compile enormous volumes of personal information from multiple sources while frequently working in the shadows. Data from social media sites, internet transactions, browsing histories, and even location tracking may be included in this. Despite the Supreme Court’s decision that the government cannot get sensitive personal data—such as location data—without a warrant, data brokers are nevertheless able to and frequently do so. As a result, the government can now indirectly access personally identifiable information that ordinarily needs a warrant in a morally dubious manner.

Implications for marginalized communities and Privacy

In particular for underprivileged communities, the power of the government to purchase personal data from data brokers has serious ramifications for privacy. The disproportionate effect of government spying on these communities has been made clear in numerous situations. For instance, it was discovered that the military had tracked users using sensitive geolocation information gathered from Muslim dating and prayer apps. These actions give rise to worries about potential discrimination, profiling, and civil rights abuses.

It is crucial to close the legal and regulatory gaps that let the government to purchase personal data in order to preserve individuals’ data privacy as effectively as possible. The recent proposal by the Biden administration to bar law enforcement from requesting information about reproductive healthcare is a start in the right direction, but more comprehensive legislation is needed. The government must be prevented from abusing loopholes to obtain sensitive information without following the law by Congress passing comprehensive legislation and regulations that create clear criteria for the collection and use of personal data.

Protecting data privacy becomes essential as technology develops and personal data becomes a more valuable commodity. The right to buy such information from data brokers undermines constitutional protections that forbid the government from seizing personal information without first following the proper procedures. Comprehensive law is required to preserve people’s right to privacy, especially for members of marginalized communities. Congress can make a significant contribution to ensuring that privacy remains a fundamental right in the digital age by closing the loophole that permits the government to purchase personal data.