Rep. Keith Self introduced a bill this week that requires law enforcement agencies to obtain a warrant before collecting surveillance data from Americans. The legislation, called the Protecting Rights in Video and Equipment Acquired Discovery (PRIVACY) Act, limits data retention, demands lists of intrusive tech be created, and prohibits the use of federal funds in installing such technologies.
The list of technologies is to include automated license plate readers, cameras that collect images of vehicle occupants and location coverage, long-range microphones, finger print detections, chemical scanners, and any other similar technologies.
“Americans’ Fourth Amendment right to be secure in their privacy does not disappear just because of new technology or artificial intelligence,” Self said in a statement. “Americans have a constitutional right to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, and our government is supposed to get a warrant before invading that privacy. This bill simply restores that protection. Get a warrant.”
According to Self’s office, 49 states have installed cameras along roadways, tracking Americans. Furthermore, the average U.S. driver has their vehicle surveilled 6-8 times a day with AI. “This allows large nationwide databases to be established to track every American even when they are not suspected of any particular malfeasance,” his office noted.
The legislation seeks to uphold the Fourth Amendment, as it guarantees that Americans be “secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures.”
Reps. Eli Crane (R-AZ) and Andrew Clyde (R-GA) serve as original co-sponsors to the bill. The Supreme Court has also heard cases on surveillance on Fourth Amendment grounds.
