FBI is buying location data to track US citizens


The FBI has resumed purchasing reams of Americans’ data and location histories to aid federal investigations, the agency’s director, Kash Patel, testified to lawmakers on Wednesday.

This is the first time since 2023 that the FBI has confirmed it was buying access to people’s data collected from data brokers, who source much of their information — including location data — from ordinary consumer phone apps and games, per Politico. At the time, then-FBI director Christopher Wray told senators that the agency had bought access to people’s location data in the past but that it was not actively purchasing it.

Read more…
Source: TechCrunch News


Sign up for the Cyber Security Review Newsletter
The latest cyber security news and insights delivered right to your inbox


Related:

  • Biden Administration Drafting EO to Help U.S. Government Secure Digital Supply Chain

    May 3, 2021

    Biden Administration Drafting EO to Help U.S. Gov’t Secure Digital Supply Chain The Biden administration said it’s drafting an executive order to help the United States government better defend itself against digital supply chain attacks. A Step Up for Federal Procurement According to NPR, the executive order that’s being drafted will include several initiatives designed to strengthen the ...

  • San Diego: Scripps Health Cyberattack Causes Widespread Hospital Outages

    May 3, 2021

    Scripps Health, a hospital network based in San Diego, was hit by a cyberattack over the weekend, forcing some critical-care patients to be diverted, according to the San Diego Union-Tribune. Scripps acknowledged the attack in a statement but didn’t specify whether it was a ransomware incident. It’s also unknown whether the adversaries compromised any patient records ...

  • Multi-Gov Task Force Plans to Take Down the Ransomware Economy

    April 29, 2021

    Ransomware has reached crisis levels across business sectors and across the globe, but a public-private Ransomware Task Force aims to stem the tide of attacks by disrupting the crooks’ business model. The Institute for Security and Technology (IST) put together the coalition, which includes more than 60 members from software companies, government agencies, cybersecurity vendors, financial ...

  • Experian API Leaks Most Americans’ Credit Scores

    April 29, 2021

    A researcher is claiming that the credit scores of almost every American were exposed through an API tool used by the Experian credit bureau, that he said was left open on a lender site without even basic security protections. Experian, for its part, refuted concerns from the security community that the issue could be systemic. The tool, ...

  • DC Police confirms cyberattack after ransomware gang leaks data

    April 26, 2021

    The Metropolitan Police Department has confirmed that they suffered a cyberattack after the Babuk ransomware gang leaked screenshots of stolen data. The Metropolitan Police Department, also known as the DC Police or MPD, is the primary law enforcement agency for Washington, DC, the US capital. In a statement to BleepingComputer, the DC Police stated that they are ...

  • White House: Here’s what we’ve learned from tackling the SolarWinds and Microsoft Exchange Server cyber incidents

    April 21, 2021

    Lessons learned from responses to the SolarWinds and Microsoft Exchange cyber incidents will be used to coordinate action against future cybersecurity and hacking incidents, the White House has said. Both incidents required the United States to react to cyberattacks by nation-state hacking operations affecting thousands of organisations across the country – Russian intelligence compromised SolarWinds in ...