Source: Orwell Day (@OrwellDay) on X
There is a silver lining to the sudden showing of pro-Flock accounts that have invaded X this past week.
They are actually doing us a favor.
Most of them argue that our phones are tracking us anyway, so why care about Flock cameras?
They actually have a point.
Without getting into all the details of how our phone data is and isn’t protected, there is one major loophole the government uses to access the data our phones collect on us without a warrant.
The government buys our data from third parties.
That is also an invasion of our privacy. And it is still legal at the federal level.
How should we respond?
By folding into our fight against Flock cameras the effort to close this loophole: support the Fourth Amendment Is Not For Sale Act, which would bar the government from purchasing data from brokers that it would otherwise need a warrant to obtain.
A little about the act:
Legislative History and Status
House Passage: The bill passed the U.S. House of Representatives on April 17, 2024, by a vote of 219–199, backed by a coalition of 123 Republicans and 96 Democrats.
Senate Action: A companion bill, S. 2576, was introduced by Senator Ron Wyden and Senator Rand Paul in 2023. Despite House passage, the bill failed in the Senate during the 118th Congress and did not become law.
State Adoption: A state-level version was adopted in Montana in 2025 with unanimous support.
Current Status: The 2024 House-passed bill itself is dead. But the loophole is still open, and the same reform has been reintroduced in the current Congress as part of broader surveillance bills. The fight is not over.
Moving forward, I am going to learn more about the current versions of this act and do my best to figure out what steps we need to take to support its passage. I hope others will do the same. Together, as a movement, we can take the momentum we already have for shutting down Flock cameras and expand it to include support for this extremely important legislation.
So now, when these trolls say, “Phones track you anyway,” we can say, “You’re right. That’s why the government shouldn’t be allowed to buy that data without a warrant. And that’s why we’re getting behind the Fourth Amendment Is Not For Sale Act to close that loophole.”
Leave a Reply