1. United States
2. Md.
3. Letter

Pass the Banning Surveillance Advertising Act. Introduced by Representatives Anna Eshoo and Jan Schakowsky and Senator Cory Booker, this bill would prohibit advertisers from targeting people using personal data — explicitly including data purchased from brokers — while still allowing ads based on what someone is actually reading. That's a precise, workable fix, not a blunt instrument. The stakes are not abstract. The 2025 assassination of Minnesota House Speaker Melissa Hortman happened because her killer used data broker sites — Spokeo, TruePeopleSearch, Intelius — to find her home address. Meanwhile, FBI Director Kash Patel confirmed in March 2026 Senate testimony that the Bureau buys commercial location data without warrants. The surveillance advertising economy funds and feeds all of this. Cut off the financial engine and you degrade the entire system. This bill attacks the supply side. Every other privacy fix — opt-outs, VPNs, encrypted apps — is defensive and individual. This is structural. Vote yes on the Banning Surveillance Advertising Act.