The FBI is buying Americans’ location data

FBI director Kash Patel admitted that the agency is buying location data that can be used to track people’s movements. Unlike information obtained from cellphone providers, this data can be accessed without a warrant — and used to track anyone.

“We do purchase commercially available information that’s consistent with the Constitution and the laws under the Electronic Communications Privacy Act, and it has led to some valuable intelligence for us,” Patel said at a hearing before the Senate Intelligence Committee on Wednesday.

Patel would not commit to senators’ requests that the agency stop buying Americans’ location data. “Doing that without a warrant is an outrageous end-run around the Fourth Amendment,” Sen. Ron Wyden (D-OR) said during the hearing. “It’s particularly dangerous given the use of artificial intelligence to comb through massive amounts of private information. This is exhibit A for why Congress needs to pass our bipartisan, bicameral bill, the Government Surveillance Reform Act.”

The Supreme Court ruled in 2018 that law enforcement agencies need a warrant to obtain people’s location data from cellphone providers. By getting this information from private data brokers, the FBI can get information on anyone it wants without a warrant.

Sen. Tom Cotton (R-AR), who chairs the intelligence committee, defended the FBI’s data grab. “The key words are commercially available,” he said.

Correction, March 20th: An earlier version of this article misstated the state Tom Cotton represents. It is Arkansas, not Alaska.