The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has resumed the practice of acquiring data on US citizens and their movements to support federal investigations. Agency Director Kash Patel told Congress about it on Wednesday. This is the first time since 2023 that the FBI has officially confirmed paying for access to data sets compiled by information brokers. These brokers obtain the majority of their information, including geolocation data, from standard consumer applications and mobile games. Back in 2023, then-FBI Director Christopher Ray had informed senators that while the agency had access to such information, it was not actively buying it up.
When directly asked by Democratic Senator Ron Wyden of Oregon whether the FBI would commit to refraining from purchasing Americans’ location data, Patel responded that the agency would use whatever they can to get the job done. Senator Wyden called the practice of acquiring citizen information without a warrant as a flagrant violation of the Fourth Amendment to the US Constitution, which safeguards everyone against unreasonable searches and seizures. Typically, government agencies have to convince a judge to issue a warrant based on evidence of probable cause before compelling technology or telecommunications companies to provide personal information. However, as experts note, in recent years, US agencies have circumvented this procedure by purchasing publicly available data from companies that aggregate vast quantities of geolocation information, initially obtained through mobile applications or other commercial tracking technologies.
For instance, the US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) agency bought a bunch of data derived from Real-Time Bidding (RTB) processes. RTB technologies are a central component of the mobile and web advertising industry and collect information, including location and other identifying data, for ad targeting. Specialized firms can monitor this process, compile user geodata, and subsequently sell it to brokers or federal agencies seeking to avoid the warrant requirement.