The Constituent Institute

Lawmaker toolkit · Civil liberties
No. 04 · October 2026

Privacy and Surveillance: the toolkit

The bill's own words, a resolution your council can pass, and answers to every objection.

For candidates, legislators and their staff · Pair with the policy brief · Figures sourced in the notes

01The bill, in its own words

The Fourth Amendment Is Not For Sale Act (H.R. 4639, sponsored by Rep. Warren Davidson) passed the House 219 to 199 on April 17, 2024. Sen. Ron Wyden has led the Senate companion. These quotes are from the text as passed by the House.10,11

No buying around the warrantH.R. 4639
A law enforcement agency of a governmental entity and an element of the intelligence community may not obtain from a third party in exchange for anything of value a covered customer or subscriber record or any illegitimately obtained information.
Court orders still applyH.R. 4639
Unless a governmental entity obtains an order […] the governmental entity may not require a third party to disclose a covered customer or subscriber record or any illegitimately obtained information if a court order would be required […]
Unlawfully obtained data is out of courtH.R. 4639
[…] and any evidence derived therefrom, may not be received in evidence in any trial, hearing, or other proceeding in or before any court, grand jury, department, officer, agency, regulatory body, legislative committee, or other authority of the United States, a State, or a political subdivision thereof.

Ellipses mark omitted words. The bill passed the House in the 118th Congress; check Congress.gov for its current number before you cite it.

02Model resolution

Cities and counties decide which cameras go up and who can search them. This resolution sets local rules and calls on Congress to close the data-broker loophole. Fill in your body, then copy the text.

Model text from The Constituent Institute. Free to adapt; no credit needed. Figures from notes 2, 4, 9, 10 and 12. Adapt retention periods to your state law. Built in your browser; nothing you type is saved or sent.

03Answering objections

Five arguments you will hear, and the answer to each.

They say"If you have nothing to hide, you have nothing to fear."

Everyone has something worth protecting: where they worship, who they see, what doctor they visit. The Fourth Amendment exists because power gets abused.

  • One search swept more than 83,000 cameras looking for a woman who had self-managed an abortion.4
  • Improper FBI searches included protesters and 19,000 donors to a congressional candidate.7
They say"These cameras help solve crimes."

We're not banning police work. We're saying a judge should sign off before anyone tracks you, and your data shouldn't be shared with whoever asks.

  • More than 30 communities canceled or deactivated Flock contracts after learning where the data went.1
They say"Section 702 is essential to national security."

Then a warrant to search Americans' messages shouldn't be a problem. Spying on foreign targets is one thing. Searching your neighbors' emails is another.

  • A warrant requirement failed in the House on a 212 to 212 tie in 2024.8
They say"Buying data is legal. It's on the open market."

That's the loophole. If the government needs a warrant to take your data, it shouldn't be able to buy it instead.

  • The intelligence community buys data the Supreme Court said needs a warrant, and doesn't know how much it holds.9
  • The fix passed the House 219 to 199, with members of both parties.10
They say"Private contractors do this more efficiently."

Efficient at what? When one company holds the data from every agency, the public deserves to see the contracts and audit the results.

  • Palantir's U.S. government revenue was $1.855 billion in 2025, up from about $1.2 billion in 2024.5

04Lines that land

Short enough for a debate answer, a mailer or a post.

05Know the vendors

Flock Safety sells plate readers to police, homeowner associations and businesses in more than 5,000 communities.1 After reporting on immigration and abortion searches, it removed some states from national lookup and paused federal pilots.3

Palantir, co-founded by Peter Thiel, earned $4.475 billion in total revenue in 2025, $1.855 billion of it from the U.S. government.5

Ask before any vote: who can search this data, how long is it kept, and who else gets it?

Notes

  1. NPR, why some cities are ditching their Flock license plate readers, 2026
  2. Coverage of Flock Safety's 20 billion monthly scans claim
  3. 404 Media, ICE taps into nationwide AI-enabled camera network
  4. EFF, the Johnson County Flock abortion search, 2025
  5. Palantir, Q4 and full-year 2025 results
  6. Business Insider, ICE orders $30 million in Palantir technology
  7. Lawfare, the FISA Court's Section 702 opinion explained
  8. ABC News, House FISA vote and the 212 to 212 warrant amendment, 2024
  9. EPIC, ODNI report on intelligence agencies' data purchases
  10. House Clerk, Roll Call 136, Fourth Amendment Is Not For Sale Act, April 17, 2024
  11. H.R. 4639, Fourth Amendment Is Not For Sale Act, as passed by the House (GovInfo)
  12. Hogan Lovells and S.T.O.P., community control ordinances
  13. Pew Research Center, How Americans View Data Privacy, 2023
  14. EPIC, Section 702 set to expire after House vote, 2026
  15. Newsweek, cities and counties canceling Flock cameras (DeFlock data)
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