New email from Sen. Wyden: Trump admin weaponizing private data to track and target American citizens.What he is doing:

[Amaryllis]

Just got this email from Senator Wyden:

Donald Trump has turned ICE and CBP into his personal gestapo. His federal agents are murdering American citizens in broad daylight, snatching people off the street into unmarked vans, and terrorizing our communities.

This isn't immigration enforcement, it's intimidation.

But there's another under-the-radar issue at play here that has me extremely concerned: the Trump administration is weaponizing private data to track and target American citizens.

As the Senate's resident privacy hawk, I've been warning for years about the dangers of the federal government having unfettered access to Americans' private information, and now, we're seeing exactly how dangerous that is.

Here's how I'm fighting back:

1. ICE is using Palantir apps to collect biometric data on protestors.

This means that Trump's federal agents can track where you go, what you do, and who you talk to. I have a bill to stop them by blocking the feds from getting access to that information.

2. ICE is purchasing private location and other data from sleazy data brokers through a legal loophole.

Right now, if the U.S. government wants to obtain your location data from a wireless carrier, it has to get a warrant to do so. But there's a little-known legal loophole that allows them to get around that.

The federal government can buy up your private information, including your location data, from sleazy data brokers that hoover up your personal info from apps on your phone.

I have a bill to close that loophole and put a stop to the government's endrunning of the Fourth Amendment and buying up everyone's data without a warrant.

3. ICE is using government data from state DMVs and federal agencies and is refusing to answer questions about how that data is used.

As soon as Trump's ICE started grabbing people from the streets, I directed my staff to investigate ICE's domestic surveillance tools and ways to cut them off.

My investigation showed that ICE has access to data at the Department of Motor Vehicles in the majority of states, with nearly no guardrails in place.

So I immediately pressed governors to cut off ICE's access to DMV data, and I will continue watchdogging this issue.

Privacy is a life-and-death issue.

I've worked for years to sound the alarm on the dangers of the federal government having unrestricted access to Americans' most private data. Unfortunately, we're witnessing the dangers of what happens without any guardrails to protect against mass government surveillance of American citizens.

I'll continue using every tool at my disposal to protect every American's constitutional right to privacy.

Onward,

Ron

[hlthe2b]

1. Gawd, I hope he is successful. This scares the shit out of me...

[Amaryllis]

2. He's the right person for the job. He is a bulldog!