Bill to stop police from buying online searches, location tracking, advances

CASTRO VALLEY, Calif. - The Fourth Amendment Is Not For Sale Act passed the U.S. House of Representatives in a vote of 219 to 199.

The bill aims to prevent law enforcement from purchasing Americans’ personal data from data brokers.

"Sounds like it could be an intrusion," said Kirk Williams of Castro Valley, who supports the bill. 

"So much information is available, in a way it’s kind of like a Pandora’s box," Todd McManus of Castro Valley said. "It just seems it shouldn’t be that easily accessible."

The data in question includes online search history and location tracking, which the apps on your smartphone are always monitoring.

"Big tech already has our information and most of our information is pretty much out there," said Nhi Tran of Castro Valley.

Alameda County Sheriff Yesenia Sanchez is against the bill.

Sanchez told KTVU her department pays to retrieve information in the case of a suspect or missing person through cell phone records to urgently track the person down.

"It’s really going to cripple the system," The Sheriff explained that the measure would require investigators to get separate warrants for every piece of information, like revealing a suspect’s cell phone carrier, to look up their GPS location, and call records, delaying an urgent investigation.

"It really impacts those who are being affected by the crime," Sanchez said. "It is the victims who will suffer."

Tracy Rosenberg with Oakland Privacy, a citizen’s coalition that defends the right to privacy, supports the legislation.

"Where we go, what we browse on the internet, and who we talk to, is that something that the government should be tracking, profiling, and keeping a list of?" Rosenberg asked.

Sanchez believes there is a misconception that law enforcement is keeping tabs on everyone.

"The people who should be concerned are the people who are actually out there committing crimes," Sanchez told KTVU. "Because those are the people that we’re looking for."

The Biden Administration is against the bill, saying it prevents law enforcement from doing what private companies will still be able to do – store your data.

The bill now heads to the Senate.

If approved by the Senate, the legislation would then head to the president’s desk where he could either sign it into law or veto it.