Proposed Twenty-Eighth Amendment

Personal Digital Liberty Amendment

Section 1.

The right of every natural person to their name, image, likeness, voice, biometric identifiers, and any digital, synthetic, or technological representation reasonably identifiable as that person shall be recognized and protected. Such right is personal in nature and shall not depend upon statute, registration, or governmental recognition.

Section 2.

No digital or synthetic representation of a person shall be created, reproduced, distributed, monetized, or used for artificial intelligence training in reliance upon identifiable personal likeness or biometric representation without that person’s prior, knowing, and revocable consent, and, where such use is commercial in nature, the provision of fair compensation. Consent shall be specific as to purpose, scope, and duration and shall not be presumed.

Nothing in this section shall be construed to prohibit the use of anonymized or non-identifiable data for general computational training purposes.

Section 3.

The rights secured by this Article shall endure for the life of the individual and shall thereafter vest in the individual’s estate and lawful heirs. Such rights shall remain enforceable by the individual’s posterity, meaning the individual’s children and grandchildren, for a period not to exceed two generations following death. No law shall shorten this duration.

Section 4.

The rights secured by this Article are inalienable. They shall not be sold, permanently assigned, or extinguished. Limited licenses may be granted for specific uses and defined periods of time, but no agreement shall waive or transfer the underlying right of ownership.

Section 5.

No digital, synthetic, or technological representation may be used to falsely attribute speech, conduct, belief, endorsement, or identity to a real person, or to imitate a real person in a manner reasonably likely to cause the public to believe the representation is authentic. Any materially altered or artificially generated representation of a real person shall be clearly identified as such.

Section 6.

This Article shall be construed in harmony with the First Amendment. Nothing herein shall be interpreted to prohibit lawful journalism, historical documentation, commentary, parody, scholarship, or artistic expression, provided such use does not purport to be authentic, imply consent or endorsement, or substitute for the individual’s own economic or civic participation.

Section 7.

This Article is self-executing and shall have immediate force and effect. It shall apply to any covered conduct occurring within the jurisdiction of the United States, purposefully directed toward the United States, or having substantial and foreseeable effect upon persons subject to its laws. Courts of the United States and of the several States shall enforce this Article directly.

Covered conduct includes the offering, distribution, licensing, or making available of any digital service, model, system, or synthetic media to persons within the United States.

Congress may enforce this Article by appropriate legislation, but shall not expand, diminish, redefine, condition, delay, or impair the rights herein secured.

Craig S. Gilgallon

Attorney at Law

(973)605-8800