WASHINGTON—Today, the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee will consider a bill requiring artificial intelligence (AI) services to verify all users’ identities before granting access to their platforms using sensitive documents like government I.D.’s, misguidedly titled the “GUARD” Act.
S. 3062 sets up a privacy nightmare for Americans and their families, as over 430 privacy and security experts globally have warned about implicit identity verification mandates for digital tools from governments. The Committee should reject efforts to advance this bill and protect Americans’ sensitive information online.
“NetChoice implores the Senate Judiciary Committee to safeguard Americans’ most secure documents and reject the GUARD Act. If implemented, such a broad and vague provision would force AI companies to collect and store highly sensitive personal data into honeypots ripe for cybercriminals to exploit through breaches, identity theft and fraud,” said Amy Bos, NetChoice Vice President of Government Affairs. “This overinclusive, blunt mechanism also mandates re-verification each time the service is used, imposing an ongoing surveillance infrastructure, not a one time check, on identity data, seriously threatening the safety of user information.”
Bos continued: “Additionally, it unduly burdens Americans’ access to lawful speech through chatbot tools, violating the First Amendment. While many lawmakers have good intentions with S. 3062, the catch is in the fine print. Instead, we encourage Senators to support a nationwide data privacy framework, ensure existing laws to help police stop predators on digital services are being fully funded and enforced, and help implement NetChoice’s Digital Safety Shield nationwide.”
Read NetChoice’s letter to the Committee here.
Please contact press@netchoice.org with inquiries.
Image via Unsplash.