Lawmakers Push to Ban AI Companies Selling Health Data
Federal lawmakers are advancing an updated privacy framework designed to restrict how artificial intelligence companies handle and distribute sensitive American health and location information. Scheduled for debut in the coming weeks, the revised Health and Location Data Protection Act was introduced by Senator Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, Representative Mary Gay Scanlon of Pennsylvania, alongside Senators Ron Wyden of Oregon and Bernie Sanders of Vermont. The legislation directly targets the growing intersection of generative artificial intelligence and personal medical data, prohibiting both data brokers and technology firms from selling or licensing Americans' health and location records. The updated bill represents a significant expansion of the original proposal first introduced in June 2022, which previously focused solely on restricting data broker activities. Recognizing the rapid evolution of the technology sector, the new draft explicitly classifies data entered into artificial intelligence chatbots and analytical platforms as protected health information. This legislative shift responds to aggressive data collection strategies recently deployed by major artificial intelligence developers. In early 2024, organizations including xAI, OpenAI, and Anthropic launched specialized healthcare tools and public campaigns encouraging users to upload MRI scans, clinical notes, and other private medical records to their models. While these initiatives aim to accelerate medical research and clinical decision support, they operate within a fragmented regulatory environment that lacks a comprehensive federal data privacy statute. Legal experts note that current data security largely hinges on corporate privacy policies rather than statutory enforcement, leaving consumers vulnerable to unauthorized data sharing and breaches. To close this regulatory gap, the proposed legislation would direct the Federal Trade Commission to finalize implementing rules within 180 days of enactment. The commission would be granted enhanced enforcement authority, permitting federal regulators, state attorneys general, and directly affected individuals to pursue legal action against violators. Additionally, the bill allocates one billion dollars in funding for the Federal Trade Commission over the next decade to support compliance monitoring and consumer protection initiatives. Senator Warren emphasized the urgency of the measure, noting that as more individuals input private health information into artificial intelligence systems, robust legal barriers are essential to prevent exploitation by third parties. The legislation marks the most direct congressional attempt to establish federal privacy guardrails for artificial intelligence, positioning data protection as a central component of emerging technology governance. If passed, the framework would fundamentally alter how artificial intelligence developers manage sensitive information and restrict the commercialization of personal health data within the rapidly expanding digital economy.
