# Military Data Privacy Act: What You Need to Know

This bill requires the Department of Defense to come clean about how it's buying and using Americans' personal data. Specifically, it forces the military to report on whether it's purchasing location information from your phone and internet records—like your browsing history, text messages, and call logs—without getting a court order first. The Defense Department has 90 days to submit this report to Congress and make it available to the public on their website.

The bill focuses on a specific concern: private companies collect massive amounts of data about where Americans are and what they do online, and this data is sometimes sold to the highest bidder. The military could potentially buy this information directly without needing a warrant or court approval. The report would reveal which military agencies are doing this, what types of data they're buying, whether they're keeping it in their files, and how they're using it. It covers everything from location tracking to phone records, text messages, and internet activity—both domestic communications and those involving people overseas.

This matters because it's about transparency and oversight. Right now, most Americans have no idea whether their location data or internet activity is being purchased and analyzed by military intelligence agencies. By requiring this public report, the bill shines a light on surveillance practices that have been largely hidden. However, it's important to note that the bill only requires reporting on what's already happening—it doesn't actually ban the military from buying this data or require them to stop. It's a first step toward understanding the scope of the practice, which could lead to future restrictions if Congress decides the activity is problematic.

Military Data Privacy Act

Rep. Jacobs, Sara [D-CA-53]

Military Data Privacy Act This bill requires the Department of Defense (DOD) to submit an unclassified report identifying certain defense entities that were, or are currently, obtaining in exchange for anything of value specified personal records of individuals (e.g., location data generated by phones likely to be located in the United States) and retaining or using such records without a court order. The report must be made available to the public on a DOD website.