1. United States
2. R.I.
3. Letter

I ask you to condition any support for the Combating Organized Retail Crime Act, H.R. 2853, S. 1404, or its proposed incorporation into the FY2027 National Defense Authorization Act, on enforceable privacy and civil-liberties protections. Organized cargo theft and coordinated criminal enterprises warrant an effective response. They do not justify constructing a broadly accessible federal–state–corporate surveillance system without clear legal limits. CORCA would place an Organized Retail and Supply Chain Crime Coordination Center within Homeland Security Investigations. The Center could receive information from retailers, transportation companies, private associations, and law-enforcement agencies; connect with DHS and Justice Department information systems; and share otherwise confidential information when its director considers disclosure “operationally necessary.” Proposed Senate Amendment 6579 improves upon the House bill by requiring privacy procedures, public identification of participating entities and data sources, reporting on biometric and watchlist use, internal audits, and a three-year sunset. Those provisions must be preserved, but they remain insufficient. I ask you to insist upon the following before supporting CORCA or any final NDAA containing it: 1 Limit collection, access, and dissemination to investigations of statutorily defined organized retail or supply-chain crime, supported by documented facts—not generalized suspicion or ordinary shoplifting. 2 Require a warrant based on probable cause before obtaining historical location or movement records, including automated license-plate-reader, geofence, reverse-location, and comparable commercially acquired data, subject only to narrowly defined emergencies. 3 Establish mandatory data minimization and definite deletion periods. Information not connected to an authorized investigation should be promptly deleted, with documented deletion by every recipient. 4 Prohibit use or sharing for civil immigration enforcement; monitoring political, journalistic, religious, or other First Amendment activity; reproductive-health investigations; or identifying people who obtain or provide legally protected medical care. 5 Require public reporting of every private data provider, contractor, database, category of information, access recipient, search volume, improper search, and substantiated violation, subject only to narrow redactions necessary to protect an active investigation. 6 Require annual independent DHS Inspector General audits, public unclassified findings, and immediate suspension of entities that violate access rules. 7 Provide delayed notice to affected people when notice no longer threatens an investigation, a meaningful correction and complaint process, disciplinary consequences, and judicial remedies for unlawful collection, disclosure, or use. Please tell me whether you will support these amendments and oppose CORCA, or a final NDAA containing it, if Congress fails to adopt them.