"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."
"Doing that without a warrant is an outrageous end-run around the Fourth Amendment. 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 cell phone providers. By getting this information from private data brokers, the FBI can get information on anyone it wants without a warrant."
FBI Director Kash Patel confirmed the agency purchases commercially available location data to track individuals' movements without obtaining warrants. This practice exploits a legal loophole: while the Supreme Court ruled in 2018 that law enforcement needs warrants to obtain location data from cell phone providers, purchasing the same information from private data brokers requires no warrant. Patel stated the purchases are consistent with the Constitution and Electronic Communications Privacy Act, claiming they yield valuable intelligence. Senator Ron Wyden criticized the practice as an unconstitutional end-run around the Fourth Amendment, particularly concerning given artificial intelligence's capacity to analyze massive datasets. He advocated for the Government Surveillance Reform Act. Senator Tom Cotton defended the practice, emphasizing the data's commercial availability.
Read at The Verge
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