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:

  • Iran-linked hackers launch cyberattack against U.S. medtech company Stryker

    March 11, 2026

    U.S. medical technology company Stryker is currently experiencing a massive cyberattack, which has shut down their computer systems and, as a result, even closed the company’s offices. An Iran-linked digital activist collective known as Handala is claiming credit for the cyberattack against Stryker. This would be the first major cyberattack carried out in the wake of the ...

  • Ericsson US reveals employee and customer data breach after third-party hack

    March 10, 2026

    The US arm of Ericsson has confirmed suffering a third-party data breach which saw it lose sensitive data on an undisclosed number of its customers. In a data breach notification letter sent out to affected individuals, Ericsson US said it spotted “a suspicious event” and potential unauthorized access to its systems on April 28, 2025. The ...

  • DOGE employee stole Social Security data and put it on a thumb drive

    March 10, 2026

    A former employee of Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency reportedly stole Americans’ personal data from the U.S. Social Security Administration and stored it on a thumb drive, according to a whistleblower complaint reported by The Washington Post. The former DOGE software engineer told co-workers at his new job that he “possessed two tightly restricted databases ...

  • US military contractor likely built iPhone hacking tools used by Russian spies in Ukraine

    March 10, 2026

    A mass hacking campaign targeting iPhone users in Ukraine and China used tools that were likely designed by U.S. military contractor L3Harris, TechCrunch has learned. The tools, which were intended for Western spies, wound up in the hands of various hacking groups, including Russian government spooks and Chinese cybercriminals. Last week, Google revealed that over the ...

  • Salt Typhoon is hacking the world’s phone and internet giants

    March 9, 2026

    Salt Typhoon is behind one of the broadest hacking campaigns in recent years, targeting some of the world’s largest phone and internet companies and stealing tens of millions of phone records about senior government officials. The hacking group, attributed to China, is part of a wider cluster of hackers with the collective aim of helping China ...

  • Taiwan Indicts 62 Over Laundering $339M From Crypto Scam Compounds in Cambodia

    March 4, 2026

    Taiwanese prosecutors have indicted 62 people over their alleged links to Prince Group, a network designated as a transnational criminal organization by the U.S. Department of Justice. According to a report by Reuters, those indicted include the group’s chairman and alleged mastermind Chen Zhi, who was arrested in Cambodia and extradited to China earlier this year.Thirteen ...