WA immigrant communities deserve strong data privacy laws — not half measures
As reported in the News Tribune at the end of January, Washington Attorney General Bob Ferguson joined a lawsuit against Google for collecting user location data without their consent. As someone who works closely with immigrant communities and civil rights organizations, I applaud this move. But there is more that Washington can and must do to keep people’s privacy, and by extension, themselves and their families safe: pass strong, meaningful data privacy regulations at the state level.
As a Washingtonian living in the digital age, I understand the dangers that can arise when companies take and use our location data — and any data, for that matter — without consent. As an advocate for immigrant rights, I also know that the dangers and burdens felt by historically over-surveilled communities are disproportionately greater. For example, in 2020, a Vice Motherboard investigation revealed that the military was buying user location data from prayer and dating apps marketed to Muslims, which can have a chilling effect on the freedom of religion, freedom of movement and an individual’s ability to live and work in a world where smartphones and apps are basic necessities.
Immigration enforcement is an area of specific concern. Since its formation in 2003, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has had a role in surveying, identifying, detaining and deporting undocumented immigrants. During that time, the agency is responsible for serious human rights violations, including family separations, child sex abuse, refugees being tortured and pregnant women being jailed. But ICE can’t do its work alone: the agency is becoming increasingly reliant on the data that tech companies provide them access to.
ICE works with tech companies, like Palantir and Clearview AI, that sell, process and store data to locate, detain and deport immigrants across the county. In 2017, for instance, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), ICE and the Department of Health and Human Services relied on data provided by Palantir to tag, track, locate and arrest 400 people in an operation that targeted family members and caregivers of unaccompanied migrant children.
The data these companies use is generated by almost every aspect of daily life. Undocumented people should not have to choose between basic necessities like utilities or a driver’s license and exposing their data, including their frequently visited locations. For immigrant communities, what’s at risk is immense: strong data privacy protections can make the difference as to whether a mother makes it home safely to her children each night.
Without strong data privacy protections, the exploitation of our digital lives can lead to detention, deportation, family separation and a life of constant fear. Washington must do better for its residents.
State lawmakers in Olympia have considered several bills this session that seek to address these harms. Only one, the People’s Privacy Act (HB 1433), required corporations to ask individuals before they collect, use, share or sell their data. This “opt-in” model of consent is the gold standard for keeping people, and their privacy, safe. No other bill drafted by the state legislature this year meets this threshold, which is critical for privacy policy that is strong enough to be meaningful.
Unfortunately, the People’s Privacy Act was killed without a proper hearing this session and did not advance - despite advocates’ request. Lawmakers should reject weaker bills that do not meet minimum standards to protect people’s privacy, and should advance the People’s Privacy Act in the next session.
It’s just commonsense: You wouldn’t let a stranger into your home without permission. Why should the legislature force you to do the same with your data by passing laws that don’t have strong opt-in provisions?
While I support the Attorney General’s lawsuit and hope that Congress will take action on privacy, there is more that must be done to address the privacy and safety needs of Washingtonians.
The legislature can still pass strong, meaningful regulations — like those proposed in the People’s Privacy Act — and should reject any bills that would prevent Washingtonians from enjoying the safety and security that can only come from the gold standard of data privacy: opt-in consent.
Ashley Del Villar is an organizer with La Resistencia and Mijente, and a member of the Tech Equity Coalition, a group of civil liberties and civil rights-focused organizations and individuals working to hold technology accountable and uplift the voices of historically marginalized communities.