Senator Ted Cruz has thrown cold water on a proposal that would extend existing privacy protections for lawmakers and officials to all Americans. The bill in question, known as the Protecting Americans from Doxing and Political Violence Act (S.2850), was up for quick approval in the Senate via unanimous consent. Sen. Ron Wyden pushed for it, hoping to broaden data privacy in response to the dangers posed by doxing and data broker abuses, as reported by TechCrunch.
Wyden’s plan would have taken already-passed rules meant for government officials and applied them to everyone in the U.S. The idea was simple: stop data brokers from selling or trading personal info like home addresses, precise locations, and other sensitive details without oversight. He argued that protection from harassment, stalking, or violence shouldn’t be a privilege reserved for public figures.
But Cruz stood alone in opposing it. He claimed that S.2850 could interfere with law enforcement tools – like knowing where sexual predators live – even though critics say the bill explicitly keeps those systems intact. Cruz also blocked a companion proposal, S.2851, which would have expanded protections further to state officials, their staff, and victims of domestic violence or sexual assault.
One striking detail: Cruz was the sole senator objecting to Wyden’s request for unanimous consent. He said he’s open to expanding the bill, but that “as wide a universe as is feasible” hasn’t yet been worked out. Meanwhile, legal experts and advocates say his objections lack basis. Existing law already requires that information about convicted sex offenders be public, and this bill wouldn’t have changed that.
Backers of the bill warned that data brokers wield massive amounts of personal data – from purchasing habits to location tracking – that can easily be weaponized. Some high-profile incidents already make that point: in one case, two Minnesota state lawmakers were targeted using personally identifiable information sourced from data brokers.
With Cruz’s rejection, S.2850 is stalled before it even reached a full Senate vote. The blockage shines a spotlight on how even bills with bipartisan roots and strong public interest can be derailed on procedural grounds. As debates over privacy, surveillance, and data rights intensify, this moment may be remembered as a key flashpoint in America’s ongoing fight over who controls personal information.