FBI Director Admits Spending Money to Buy "Location Data" to Track American Citizens! Blasted for Trampling Fourth Amendment

FBI Director Kash Patel testified before the Senate Intelligence Committee that the FBI is currently purchasing “location data” from commercial entities to track American citizens, without the need for search warrants. Senator Ron Wyden criticized this as a “disturbing evasion of the Fourth Amendment” and warned that combining AI with location data could lead to widespread abuse.
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On Tuesday (the 18th), FBI Director Kash Patel appeared at the Senate Intelligence Committee hearing and directly admitted, in response to Democratic Senator Ron Wyden’s questioning, that the FBI is buying commercial location data from data brokers to track U.S. citizens’ movements, completely without court search warrants.

This is the first public acknowledgment of this practice by the FBI since 2023. The previous director had testified before Congress that “to my knowledge, the FBI does not currently purchase commercial databases containing location data,” but Patel’s testimony completely overturns that statement.

At the hearing, Patel was straightforward:

“The FBI uses all tools, Senator, thank you for the question, to do our mission.”

“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.”

Senator Slams: AI Combined with Location Data Is Mass Surveillance

Senator Ron Wyden pressed Patel on whether he could commit to stopping the purchase of location data, but was refused. Wyden criticized this as a “disturbing evasion of the Fourth Amendment.”

Wyden later told Gizmodo, “Building profiles of American citizens using AI based on this data is a terrifying expansion of mass surveillance.”

He then co-sponsored the Government Surveillance Reform Act, which clearly states that before federal agencies purchase any data from commercial entities, they must first obtain a court-issued search warrant. If passed, this law would directly close the loophole allowing the FBI to bypass the Fourth Amendment.

Core of the Controversy

Also present was Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard. Senate Intelligence Committee Chair and Republican Senator Tom Cotton defended the FBI, claiming that the data obtained is publicly available information, “similar to legally rummaging through trash.”

However, the legal controversy centers on the fact that these location data are not truly “public.” Data brokers collect precise location information from mobile apps, games, weather apps, and more, then package and sell it to government agencies.

The Fourth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution explicitly protects citizens from unreasonable searches and seizures. When the government “buys” data to bypass search warrants, it essentially turns constitutional protections into a bypassable loophole.

It’s important to note that this issue isn’t limited to the FBI. During the hearing, the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) was also questioned about similar purchasing practices, indicating that such methods may be widespread within the U.S. intelligence community.