FBI resumes purchasing Americans’ data for investigations

The FBI has resumed purchasing Americans' data and location histories to aid federal investigations, according to testimony from agency Director Kash Patel to lawmakers on Wednesday. This marks the first time since 2023 that the FBI has confirmed it is buying access to people's data collected from data brokers, who source information from consumer phone apps and games, as reported by TechCrunch.

FBI Director Kash Patel stated that the agency "uses all tools" for its mission and purchases commercially available information consistent with the Constitution and the Electronic Communications Privacy Act, which has yielded valuable intelligence. This practice allows the FBI to acquire data without a warrant, a move criticized by Sen. Ron Wyden as an "outrageous end-run around the Fourth Amendment."

Government agencies typically need a warrant to access private information, but have increasingly skirted this by buying data from companies that amass large amounts of location data derived from phone apps and other commercial tracking technologies. For example, U.S. Customs and Border Protection previously purchased data sourced from real-time bidding services.

In response, lawmakers have introduced legislation, such as the Government Surveillance Reform Act, aiming to require court-authorized warrants before federal agencies can purchase Americans' information from data brokers.

Source: TechCrunch