CHICAGO (WLS) — Illinois’ chief legal officer is sounding the alarm over gaps in regulations that could compromise your privacy.
Details about your vacations, the location of your phone during sleep and work, your purchasing behavior, internet searches, political views, and personal health information are often traded by private data brokers. Some of this information even finds its way into the hands of federal agencies, putting your privacy at risk.
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Both the Illinois Attorney General and digital privacy advocates highlight a growing concern: the federal government’s unprecedented ability to scrutinize personal aspects of your life, fueled by the trade of personal data and the rise of artificial intelligence.
The Attorney General, along with experts, is pressing Congress to address these loopholes, which they argue infringe on personal privacy and the Fourth Amendment rights.
“Currently, large-scale data presents a significant risk and immense power for its holders,” stated Ben Zhou, a computer science professor at the University of Chicago.
He explained to the I-Team that although most data transactions do not directly tie information to your identity, sophisticated AI models could enable any organization, including government bodies, to make precise inferences about your identity based solely on your everyday actions.
“Once you have multiple dimensions of data, you can sort of break anonymity fairly quickly, ” Zhou added. “Whether it’s used for advertising or tracking locations or identifying political affiliations, whatever it is that you may want, everything that we do in our lives is basically out there.”
It’s why Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul said he and 16 other attorneys general are asking Congress to close loopholes allowing the federal government to buy bulk data on Americans without a judicial warrant. He said federal agencies have already purchased billions of records enabling them to track an individual’s movements, routines, and daily lives.
“With the use of AI, profiles can be created and data can be collected that would otherwise require a warrant.” Raoul said.
He said it’s time for the federal government to update outdated privacy laws and mandate the deletion of unlawfully collected data.
“Members of Congress are very concerned about federal investigative agencies bypassing constitutional protections,” he explained.
Zhao emphasized the potential for misuse or even misidentification of profiles is alarming, because even best-in-class AI models make mistakes.
“Just errors that are just flat out, you know, made from thin air, accusing people of specific patterns that they’ve done or things that they bought or activities they’ve taken part in, and it could just all be wrong,” he warned. “The negative consequences on people’s lives could be really, really severe.”
Both Zhao and Attorney General Raoul say this should not be a partisan issue because privacy rights affect everyone, regardless of political affiliation.
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