Congress has been trying to crack down on data brokers — and the data brokers are fighting back. In late March, the House unanimously passed a bill that would prevent Americans’ data from being sold to foreign adversaries. And an amendment on data collection is mixed up in the bill reauthorizing Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA), the controversial statute that authorizes the National Security Agency, which expires later this month.
Lawmakers’ negotiations over FISA’s reauthorization became so contentious that House Speaker Mike Johnson withdrew the bill from consideration in February. The biggest source of conflict was an amendment introduced by Rep. Warren Davidson (R-OH) that would prohibit data brokers...