WASHINGTON – U.S. Senators Bill Cassidy, M.D. (R-LA), Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), and Marco Rubio (R-FL) introduced the Protecting Military Service Members’ Data Act of 2022 to protect the data of U.S. service members by preventing data brokers from selling lists of military personnel to adversarial nations including China, Russia, Iran, and North Korea.
“Protecting service members’ data is both a privacy and a national security issue,” said Dr. Cassidy. “Current law lacks common sense. Our legislation prohibits our enemies like China and Russia from acquiring and using this information to do us harm.”
“The business model of data brokers threatens the safety, privacy, and civil liberties of Americans, including servicemembers,” said Senator Warren. “We can’t allow Big Tech companies and other data brokers to exploit sensitive data for profit, and this legislation would help regulate the industry to protect servicemembers’ personal information.”
“It is common sense to prevent big data companies and shady brokers from selling information about our military personnel to countries that could use that information against us,” Senator Rubio said. “This bill would protect the privacy of service-members and mitigate this national security risk.”
Cassidy’s legislation prohibits data brokers from selling, reselling, trading, licensing, or providing for consideration lists of military service members to adversarial nations. Data brokers openly and explicitly advertise data on millions of Americans, many from sensitive populations such as U.S. military personnel. Today, lists of military personnel, as well as information on their addresses, political beliefs, and lifestyle choices, can legally be sold to adversaries like China, Russia, and Iran, threatening our national security.
The legislation:
- Gives the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) power to include other relevant vulnerable groups
- Gives the FTC enforcement power under the Unfair and Deceptive Acts of Practices
Cassidy previously introduced the Data Elimination and Limiting Extensive Tracking and Exchange (DELETE) Act to protect Americans’ private online data. He also introduced the Terms-of-service Labeling, Design and Readability (TLDR) Act to require commercial websites and mobile apps to create a simple and readable summary of their terms-of-service agreements. Cassidy also introduced the Children and Teens Online Privacy Protection Act to protect our children’s privacy and demanded transparency from Amazon on their biometric data collection practices.
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