Mitt Romney’s AI Bill Seeks To Ban Anonymous Cloud Access, Raising Privacy Concerns – ReclaimTheNet

December 22, 2024

Mitt Romney’s AI Bill Seeks To Ban Anonymous Cloud Access, Raising Privacy Concerns

A new Senate bill, the Preserving American Dominance in AI Act of 2024 (S.5616), has reignited debate over its provisions, particularly its push to impose “know-your-customer” (KYC) rules on cloud service providers and data centers. Critics warn that these measures could lead to sweeping surveillance practices and unprecedented invasions of privacy under the guise of regulating artificial intelligence.

We obtained a copy of the bill for you here.

KYC regulations require businesses to verify the identities of their users, and when applied to digital platforms, they could significantly impact privacy by linking individuals’ online activities to their real-world identities, effectively eliminating anonymity and enabling intrusive surveillance.

The legislation, spearheaded by outgoing Senator Mitt Romney (R-Utah) and co-sponsored by a bipartisan group of lawmakers, seeks to establish an AI oversight office within the Department of Commerce...

Less concerningly, data centers training sophisticated AI models would also be mandated to disclose their ownership and facility locations to the Commerce Department’s AI office.

Supporters claim these measures are essential for addressing potential risks posed by frontier AI models and ensuring national security. …

The KYC provision, modeled on financial-sector regulations, would force cloud and infrastructure providers to implement identity verification systems, effectively turning these companies into de facto surveillance agents for the government. This could set a new precedent, where private companies are conscripted to monitor user activity.

Noncompliance with the legislation, should it pass, carries severe penalties, including fines of up to $1 million per day or imprisonment for up to 10 years. Such punitive measures could disproportionately affect smaller developers and startups who are unable to navigate the bureaucratic hurdles imposed by the KYC requirements.

🔗SOURCE ➡️ ReclaimTheNet

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