Congressman Biggs Urges Biden Administration to Investigate Massive Data Breach and Work to Protect Americans’ Privacy

Today, Congressmen Andy Biggs (R-AZ) and Warren Davidson (R-OH) sent a letter to President Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris regarding the hack of National Public Data. Last month, reports emerged that hackers have stolen and leaked the sensitive personal data of nearly three billion people. The data, which could include information on every American, appears to include full names, dates of birth, social security numbers, addresses, and phone numbers.

The letter urges the Biden-Harris administration to thoroughly investigate the hack and calls for disclosure to the American public of how a breach of this scale was allowed to occur, how relevant data brokers will be held accountable, and to what extent the government's investment in the data broker ecosystem contributed to the breach. The Congressmen also demand that the administration support legislation, such as the Fourth Amendment is Not for Sale Act, limiting government purchases from data brokers and halting the government's purchase of hacked data. The Fourth Amendment is Not for Sale Act passed the House earlier this year with bipartisan support, despite significant opposition from the Biden-Harris administration.

"This breach represents a monumental failure in cybersecurity and an egregious oversight by the Biden administration," said Congressman Biggs.

"The sheer magnitude of this incident is a wake-up call for immediate and decisive action. The American people's preexisting distrust in the federal government's ability to protect private information is all the more justified after every data breach. We demand to know how personal information was so recklessly exposed and what steps will be taken to prevent such breaches in the future."

"We look forward to a swift response from the administration and to working toward bipartisan solutions to protect Americans' personal data."

"By allowing the government to purchase Americans' sensitive data from hackers, the Biden-Harris administration is once again failing to protect Americans' right to privacy," said Rep. Warren Davidson. "Worse, this impermissible action by this administration creates a market for illicit data hackers. Not only must this practice end, but the Senate must pass the Fourth Amendment Is Not For Sale Act to stop abusing the right to privacy."

Cosigners of the letter include: Jeff Duncan (R-SC), Randy Weber (R-TX), Ralph Norman (R-SC), Andy Ogles (R-TN), Paul Gosar (R-AZ), Barry Moore (R-AL), and Ben Cline (R-VA).

Politico covered the letter in Tuesday's edition of Inside Congress.

The letter may be read here.