TPA Submits Comments to Office of Management and Budget on Commercially Available Information

Today, the Taxpayers Protection Alliance (TPA) submitted comments to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB)’s request for information regarding “Executive Branch Agency Handling of Commercially Available Information Containing Personally Identifiable Information.” Numerous federal agencies have purchased commercially available information (CAI) in recent years, all without a warrant. While this seems to be within the letter of the Fourth Amendment’s privacy guarantees, it is greatly at odds with its spirit. In its comments, TPA argued that while there are legitimate federal uses of CAI, safeguards must be erected to protect Americans’ privacy. TPA “urges agencies to introduce changes in their data procurement, processing, and storage practices to ensure that the use of CAI and AI systems does not lead to government abuse or increased privacy-related vulnerabilities for Americans,” the comments said. “Additionally, TPA advocates increased transparency and accountability with respect to agencies’ use of CAI.”