FBI is buying location data to track US citizens, director confirms
FBI Director Kash Patel confirmed to lawmakers that the agency is actively purchasing commercially available location data to track Americans. Because the data is bought rather than subpoenaed, the FBI can obtain it without going through the warrant process.
Why this matters: The warrant requirement exists for a reason. It forces the government to justify surveillance to a judge before it happens. Buying commercial data skips that step entirely. The result is that your phone's location history — sold by an app or a data broker — can end up in FBI hands with no court ever involved. You never consented to that. You probably did not even know the data was for sale. Congress can fix this, but so far it mostly has not.
Who should care: General readers · Privacy officers · Policy
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