For years, data brokers have abused most of Americans’ personal data in every way possible, selling identifying information to companies, other individuals, and even governments. Now, a series of articles highlight how industry practices are increasingly putting women’s safety at risk.

Data brokers sell the ability to track phones that visit abortion clinics and follow them across state lines, all the way to their owners’ homes. For this type of 24-hour monitoring, all you need is a credit card. Given the frightening enthusiasm with which MAGA government officials interfere in women’s health choices, these tracking tools present a pressing danger to women across the country.

According to reports by several press organizations last weekdata broker Babel Street allowed a private investigator to use its Locate X tool to zero in on abortion clinics and other sensitive locations. While Babel Street advertises that its tool is intended for government use, in practice this private investigator received a one-week trial subscription, apparently without any verification.

I have spent years investigating data broker malfeasance and, unfortunately, this news was not surprising. My investigations revealed that wireless phone companies let data brokers sell Americans’ location information to bounty hunters, corrupt law enforcement officials, and almost anyone with a credit card. Earlier this year I revealed that data brokers helped anti-abortion activists send targeted misinformation about abortion to patients at 600 Planned Parenthood clinics across the country. I discovered that automakers sold driver location data and other records to data brokers for pennies. And I successfully pushed utility companies stop their practice of disclosing their customers’ personal information to data brokers.

Time and time again, MAGA politicians show that they will go to shameful lengths to control women’s bodies. Since the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, Republicans moved mountains to restrict women’s constitutional rights and freedoms, preventing many women from living their lives free from government intrusion. They won’t rest until there is a politician in every bedroom and exam room in America.

But Americans should not accept a reality in which their phones are sleeper agents allowing stalkers and fundamentalist politicians to stalk women across the country. Here’s how we can fight back.

First, anyone who cares about women’s rights needs to speak up and vote for candidates who have a proven track record of protecting those rights. The Dobbs The decision to overturn women’s right to choose was the culmination of a decades-long far-right movement to take control of the country’s courts. Democrats must react with the same determination, which is why I presented the law on judicial modernization and transparency reform the justice system and ensure our judges better represent American values.

Second, the executive branch should use the powers it already has to crack down on the shady behavior of data brokers. At my request, the Federal Trade Commission has already started to attack certain data brokers which sold location data collected from Americans without their consent. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is expected to announce its own regulations soon. extend financial privacy rules to the sector.

States can also act to protect their residents. Starting in 2026, Californians will be able to sign up for a new data broker registry, where, with a single click, they can ask brokers to delete their data and stop selling it in the future. The law that created this new privacy control, which will allow tens of millions of Americans to regain control of their own personal data, was modeled after after the legislation, I wrote. I encourage other states to follow California’s example.

Third, Congress must finally break down the corporate barricades that have blocked strong consumer privacy law. I wrote my own privacy bills, the Mind Your Own Business Act and the law prohibiting surveillance advertising. And in the coming months, I plan to release two new bills: one that will protect Americans’ privacy by limiting the amount of data that websites and apps can collect about Americans and preventing data brokers to accumulate and sell this data, and another that will protect Americans from being spied on by their smart TVs and set-top boxes and having this data leaked or sold to data brokers.

Finally, it’s worth noting that the vast majority of phones tracked by Babel Street’s Locate X tool used Google’s Android operating system. Although Apple changed its privacy settings in 2021 To make it easier for users to prevent apps from harvesting and selling their personal information, Google has not done the same. As a result, people who use Android phones are much more vulnerable to surveillance than those who use iPhones. It doesn’t take a genius to understand why the world’s largest online advertising company doesn’t want to make it easy for users to opt out of tracking by ad companies and their data broker partners. Google could act immediately to limit data brokers’ access to location information and cut off this slimy industry at the source.

When it comes to violations of Americans’ privacy, our country has reached a tipping point. The repeal of Roe has only raised the stakes for women who want to make health care decisions without a politician in their doctor’s office or a stalker monitoring their phone. The good news is that there is no mystery as to how to solve this problem. There is a clear path forward to protect our privacy and security that Americans should insist on to our government.