- FBI Director Kash Patel confirmed the agency buys Americans' location data again without warrants
- Patel said the practice aligns with the Constitution and Electronic Communications Privacy Act
- Senator Ron Wyden called warrantless data buying an “outrageous end-run” around the Fourth Amendment
FBI Director Kash Patel admitted under oath that the agency is once again purchasing data and location history of Americans, a practice he claimed provides "valuable intelligence". The admission came during a Senate Intelligence Committee hearing on Wednesday (Mar 18), after Democrat Senator Ron Wyden pressed Patel on whether the FBI would commit to ending the warrantless acquisition of such private data.
“The FBI uses all tools to do our mission. We do purchase commercially available information that is consistent with the Constitution and the laws under the Electronic Communications Privacy Act, and it has led to some valuable intelligence for us,” Patel testified in front of the committee.
In response, Wyden said buying information on Americans without obtaining a warrant was an “outrageous end-run around the Fourth Amendment".
“So you're saying that the agency will buy Americans' location data I believe that that's what you've said in kind of intelligence lingo. And I just want to say as we start this debate, doing that without a warrant is an outrageous end run around the fourth amendment," said Wyden.
"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."
FBI's Previous Admission
In 2023, the then-FBI director Christopher Wray told senators that the agency had bought access to people's location data in the past but was not doing so at that time.
“To my knowledge, we do not currently purchase commercial database information that includes location data derived from internet advertising,” Wray said. “I understand that we previously, as in the past, purchased some such information for a specific national security pilot project. But that's not been active for some time.”
