Data Privacy Now!

Domestic violence survivors are especially vulnerable without the protections data privacy laws would afford. Today, those intent on causing harm can buy the precise geolocation data of people in their crosshairs. This isn’t right, and we can stop it by creating clear, enforceable legal guardrails to protect people from both digital and physical abuse.

Abortion seekers and providers should not have to live in fear that their presence at reproductive health centers is being tracked, or that law enforcement or bounty hunters could easily buy their location data.

In the aftermath of the Supreme Court’s Dobbs decision, which eliminated the federal constitutional right to abortion, journalists found that data brokers continued to buy, repackage, and sell the location information of people visiting abortion clinics. This puts people who seekand provide care at risk of prosecution,harassment, and violence.

Public records show that ICE and CBP spent millions in taxpayer dollars buying cellphone location data to track immigrants.

ICE is aggressively using location data and other information gleaned from people’s online activity and apps to identify and target immigrants for deportation. Massachusetts lawmakers can’t stop ICE or CBP from deporting people, but they can ban the sale of our sensitive data, denying these agencies a critical tool in their arsenal.

Communities of color are particularly disadvantaged and endangered by digital surveillance.

Discriminatory digital algorithms routinely deny people of color opportunities in housing, employment, and credit. Algorithms have offered predatory lending options to people of color, and online recruitment tools often disadvantage Black and Brown job seekers. What’s more, surveillance pricing allows companies to change their prices based on consumers’ location, such as predominantly Black communities.

Trans and gender-diverse people seeking gender-affirming care are especially vulnerable to targeting and harassment — and they deserve to be protected.

Bad actors have already purchased location data to target gay Catholics, immigrants, and folks seeking reproductive care. Likewise, precise geolocation data bought and sold on the open market shows who visits specific healthcare facilities, when, and how often. At a time when trans people and trans rights are under attack across the country, Massachusetts must stand up for the digital privacy rights of this targeted and vulnerable community.

Cybercrime now costs the global economy over $8 trillion annually — more than the GDP of every country except the U.S. and China. Every day, identity theft devastates ordinary people. Ransomware attacks cripple hospitals and government agencies. Data breaches expose billions of personal records yearly.

Strong, enforceable privacy law will:

Reduce the honeypot - Strong privacy laws shrink the universe of data that hackers can steal or manipulate.

Force security investment - Privacy regulations with meaningful penalties make data protection a business imperative.

Break the breach-to-fraud pipeline - Restricting the way data is exchanged and used makes stolen data harder to exploit.

We are living in a time of heightened hatred and bigotry. Synagogues, mosques, predominantly Black churches, and other places of worship have been the targets of politically motivated violence. But today, data brokers are allowed to sell the precise geolocation data of religious leaders, as well as lists of “Jewish” and “African American” people.

Strong data minimization rules and a ban on the sale of sensitive data will protect these communities and others from persecution and targeting based on their faith.