John,

Over the years, technology has integrated into our daily lives more and more. Whether it’s scrolling through your social media feeds, reading the news online, or using facial recognition to open your smartphone, every digital interaction generates data.

But what a lot of people don’t realize is that data is being collected during each of these interactions, and that data is often turned over to private companies and the government without their knowledge.

“Big Tech” can use this data to profit off our private information or make us vulnerable to manipulation, exploitation, or abuse. Recently, President Biden penned an op-ed in The Wall Street Journal calling for Congress to take action to prevent such abuses — and here at the Innocence Project, we agree.

Please take a moment to read my piece on the Innocence Project’s site about why we believe more must be done to regulate these harmful data practices: [[link removed]]

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Right now, there is no oversight over or regulation of how Big Tech or the government uses our data — and that poses a big problem. The unregulated use of big data technologies can create serious risk of wrongful conviction when used as surveillance tools or investigative tools in criminal cases.

These technologies are often deployed before being fully tested and have already been proven to have disparate impacts on people of color. For example, it’s widely known that facial recognition technology misidentifies people of color at higher rates, but its use is still spreading. And it’s led to the wrongful arrests of at least four innocent Black people.

We agree with President Biden that it’s time to set limits. The president emphasized the need for “clear limits on how companies can collect, use and share highly personal data — your internet history, your personal communications, your location, and your health, genetic and biometric data,” and we believe Congress must go a step further.

Congress must make explicit in its anticipated bill that it will regulate how the government and law enforcement uses big data investigative tools in criminal investigations to protect people’s data and prevent wrongful convictions, including how data may or may not be collected, used, or stored in those investigations.

Learn more about how data technologies can contribute to wrongful arrests and convictions, and what Congress can do to help prevent that from happening: [[link removed]]

Thank you so much,

Sarah Chu
Senior Advisor on Forensic Science Policy
Innocence Project


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The Innocence Project works to free the innocent, prevent wrongful convictions, and create fair, compassionate, and equitable systems of justice for everyone. Founded in 1992 by Barry C. Scheck and Peter J. Neufeld at the Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law at Yeshiva University, the organization is now an independent nonprofit. Our work is guided by science and grounded in antiracism.

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