Rep. Lauren Boebert of Colorado and Rep. Thomas Massie of Kentucky introduced the Surveillance Accountability Act on Apr. 23, a bill that would require government agencies to obtain a warrant supported by probable cause before conducting surveillance on American citizens.
The legislation addresses concerns about the growing use of surveillance technologies by federal and local agencies without judicial oversight. Supporters say these practices raise significant privacy issues for Americans.
Boebert said, “For years, the federal government has treated the Fourth Amendment like a suggestion. They’ve built a massive surveillance machine that tracks, scans, and spies on law-abiding Americans without a warrant, without probable cause, and without any accountability. Enough is enough.” She added, “The Surveillance Accountability Act puts the Constitution back in charge. It protects every American from an out-of-control federal government that thinks it owns your data, your movements, and your life. This is a true bipartisan issue for anyone who still believes in limited government and individual liberty.”
Massie said, “The Bill of Rights is not a suggestion, and Fourth Amendment protections against warrantless searches conducted by the government are not optional.” He continued: “The Surveillance Accountability Act requires government employees to first obtain a warrant based on probable cause before searching Americans’ personal information even if the information sought is stored on a phone, in the cloud, or held by a third party. Warrantless searches are unconstitutional, and this does not change when the data the government seeks is in digital formats or held by a third party.”
According to its sponsors, the act would require warrants for all government-initiated searches or surveillance activities; prohibit facial recognition scanning by law enforcement in public spaces such as schools or places of worship; restrict automated license plate readers from creating persistent location databases without court orders; ban federal agencies from buying commercially available location data to bypass warrants; and prevent federal pressure on local police to share data collected without warrants.
Sponsors cited documented instances where authorities used surveillance technology against political figures and ordinary citizens without proper judicial authorization.
Lauren Boebert currently serves as U.S. Representative for Colorado’s 3rd district after replacing Scott Tipton in 2021 according to official records. She was born in Altamonte Springs, Florida in 1986 and now lives in Silt as reported by CPR News.
