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Pennsylvania State Senate
08/31/2024 07:55 PM
Pennsylvania State Senate
https://www.legis.state.pa.us/cfdocs/Legis/CSM/showMemoPublic.cfm?SPick=20230&chamber=S&cosponId=42980
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Senate of Pennsylvania
Session of 2023 - 2024 Regular Session

MEMORANDUM

Posted: July 15, 2024 03:34 PM
From: Senator Tracy Pennycuick and Sen. Rosemary M. Brown
To: All Senate members
Subject: Combating Artificial Intelligence Usage in Data Harvesting Right-to-Know Requests
 
 In the near future, we will be introducing legislation to prevent Artificial Intelligence (AI) from being used maliciously to generate Right to Know requests.

AI is revolutionizing our interactions with the world. Its positive impacts extend to improving healthcare outcomes, personalizing learning environments, and enhancing business and government efficiencies.

As with any new technology, bad actors are exploiting AI for their benefit at the expense of others. Many local governments have reported that AI is being used to generate municipal Right-to-Know requests for automated data harvesting operations. Local governments are stewards of vast quantities of information, making them prime targets for potentially nefarious actors using the Right-to-Know process.

The Right-to-Know law is invaluable in providing citizens access to public information and increasing government transparency and accountability. However, it was never intended to allow big data to harvest troves of information retained by state and local governments purely for commercial gain.

While vexatious Right-to-Know requests are not new, AI has the potential to escalate these requests to unprecedented levels. These operations pose a real threat to privacy and data security, with harvested information often stored and used in commercial operations and AI training. Once synthesized, this information can be used for various applications without the consent of the individuals from whom it was harvested.

Our legislation will address the concerns raised by local governments and ensure that AI is not being utilized to overwhelm and exploit municipalities in these data mining requests.

Please join us in co-sponsoring this important piece of legislation which will help to preserve the integrity of the Right-to-Know law and ensure that municipal governments’ and citizens’ information is protected.