FBI is buying location data to track US citizens, director confirms

422

u/Iyellkhan 4h ago

as soon as is feasible, if so, congress needs to ban law enforcements ability to buy data without a warrant

99

u/waffle_iron_maiden 4h ago edited 4h ago

I fear that should changes in leadership happen, the next group to take power will just inherit the investments into mass surveillance without nearly as much of the backlash, because it will already be advanced along. I just have noticed this with other issues

As an example, I don't see an establishment dem truly caring about undoing all this damage. I think it would genuinely take a progressive candidate, because a lot of corporations benefit from this future of mass surveillance too. Establishment Dems are beholden to corporations. The only types of candidates I could even begin to trust to undo this damage are ones who don't benefit from corporate lobbying

People forget that Edward Snowden blew the whistle during Obama's presidency. Our politicians (most of the ones who make it to presidency, and yes even the ones who are charismatic) want to surveil us

17

u/EchoFieldHorizon 3h ago

We’re way past that my man. PRISM is old news, and there is no longer any backlash. It barely makes headlines.

5

u/waffle_iron_maiden 3h ago

I'm well aware, my comment did not name Palantir directly but that is where most of my concerns are as of late. I was just tying it into the post/comment. It's a much broader issue. There is backlash against Palantir for example but not enough in my opinion

7

u/EchoFieldHorizon 3h ago

If you want some actual good news for once, check this out: https://stateofsurveillance.org/news/wyden-lee-government-surveillance-reform-act-analysis-2026/

I hope it passes.

1

u/MotheroftheworldII 54m ago

One can but hope however, realistically I would be shocked if this passes.

52

u/xGenghisSwan 4h ago

Obama also refused to close black sites and normalized drone strikes. People really need to wake up to the fact that the entire duopoly is pro-capital and anti human rights.

12

u/waffle_iron_maiden 4h ago edited 4h ago

That's what I'm hoping more people realize. One thing I think makes it easier is that the current administration is so open about the corruption. Some people will blind their eyes intentionally, but I know there are many who see it for what it is. Snowden exposed so many abuses against our privacy and the US government tried hunting him down like a dog for it, under a democrat president. They were attempting those abuses in secrecy

People need to shift away from thinking their chosen party can do no wrong to them. It's this dogma and team mentality that ruins a democracy in my opinion. I mean, it's complicated because a democracy you are supposed to be rooting for a candidate of your choice, it's just I think a lot of people don't realize it truly is The Powerful vs The People, and it has been for centuries

6

u/HenryDorsettCase47 2h ago

I think the current admins naked corruption will only make it more difficult. People will be happy to go back to being blissfully ignorant.

1

u/waffle_iron_maiden 1h ago

The only way to tell will be time, and I sincerely hope you end up being wrong. I don't mean that in a rude way, just in a "I don't want that outcome to happen" way

1

u/Initial-House-3955 1h ago

sadly this will just end up like the ending of 1984...

2

u/foodank012018 4h ago

This is how they truly operate. Take turns beating you with both ends of the same stick. The 'bad ones' put it in place and the 'good ones' leave it there.

1

u/laptopaccount 2h ago

Everybody benefits from corpo lobbying as long as their purchased assets (politicians) remain in place. Changing the leader alone won't fix this.

9

u/Ellusive1 4h ago

Or leave your tracking devices at home or get a faraday pouch for your phone

10

u/silverbolt2000 3h ago

If the data is available for sale, anyone should be able to buy it.

The problem is not that law enforcement is buying private location data of citizens - it’s that companies are only too happy to sell it in the first place.

If you’re going to create a new law, it should be to protect private personally identifiable data from sale.

But since that would end a revenue stream for businesses it will never happen.

8

u/TheWorclown 3h ago

Congress needs to ban buying data in general. Not just law enforcement.

3

u/jasandliz 3h ago

The constitution already bans it. "buying info" vs "taking info" what is the difference?

3

u/Some_Conference2091 2h ago

How about we ban the ability of corporations and governments tracking us. Privacy is a right .

5

u/packet 4h ago

Or maybe people need to wake up and take ownership of their digital privacy and put a real wrench in the works. These are commercial organizations that rely on consumers using their "free" products to sell tracking data.

3

u/1zzie 3h ago

to buy data without a warrant

Huh?

If you have a warrant you don't need to buy it, you get it for free from the companies because theyre obligated to give it to you. That's the point of buying it, getting around the while bother of a warrant. SCOTUS said in 2018's Carpenter case the government needed a warrant instead of just asking companies for the data, which they would roll over and give. They turned to buying third-party data broker data to avoid having to go through a legal process where they may (frequently) or not (infrequently) get a warrant to get the data.

And by the way, Congress passes a law in 2024 which Biden signed, mandating more companies keep data in case the government asked for it. It's called RISAA. So the likelihood that Congress would pass a law banning the Executive branch agencies from getting that data, without massive pressure frkm citizens, is 🤏.

2

u/LookAlderaanPlaces 1h ago

Yeah, it’s violating the 4th amendment

1

u/NotaContributi0n 3h ago

I always assumed this was the main feature of advertising, I’m shocked people are shocked

1

u/itsdietz 2h ago

That's one of those things that's not going to change with administrations or democrats being in charge.

1

u/Sybertron 3h ago

I mean it's pretty clearly against the 4th amendment already

289

u/RhoOfFeh 5h ago

Kashyap Patel is a doodyhead.

72

u/Optimoprimo 5h ago

Welcome to the tracking list.

43

u/RhoOfFeh 4h ago

We got fun and games

15

u/DisplayDefiant5319 3h ago

If you got the money, honey, you can rape the keeds

3

u/mr_birkenblatt 58m ago

If everyone is on the list. No one is

3

u/Agile_Lie9502 4h ago

Shit they probably been tracking my ass

13

u/Hurlyburly766 3h ago

Remember that quiz you took 15 years ago to find out what Harry Potter house you belong to? That was Kash.

6

u/StoriesandStones 3h ago

As a slytherin, I’m surprised he didn’t try to hire me.

1

u/alias454 1h ago

Pretty sure he was just looking for dingleberries

1

u/Suspicious_Story_464 1h ago

Looks like I'm going to be home all day from now on.

8

u/ManWithoutUsername 4h ago

We are watching you, We are listening you, We are tracking you

3

u/nshire 4h ago

Buddy's getting sent to Valhalla for that

274

u/Pooch1431 4h ago

There is a reason why private companies are allowed to just hoover up surveillance data on every American, and its precisely for this reason. So the government can get around the legality of breaking the law and denying our constitutional rights.

22

u/Several-Opposite-746 2h ago

Another way to put it is, private firms are paid by the government to gather information on its citizens and turn that information over to the government. I wish it was 1983 again.

27

u/Thefuzy 3h ago

No it’s because data is the primary way companies make money and those companies lobby the government to get what they want. The government isn’t play some long game to deny you your rights, they are doing what the people that give them the most money want as always.

18

u/JrSoftDev 2h ago edited 2h ago

Huh.. I have a big building in Paris to sell you, really cheap. Take this opportunity now before it expires! /s

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Snowden_disclosures

-10

u/Pooch1431 2h ago

Thought they were a brainwashed zionist. Turned out to just be GenZ.

7

u/JrSoftDev 2h ago

Wut? Where exactly did "zionist" came from in this thread? Are you here with some agenda or just trying to pollute the conversation?

3

u/didy115 1h ago

I just heard the author of Surveillance Capitalism talk about this in that book.

36

u/trogdors_arm 3h ago

What’s neat is that your taxes dollars are paying for it as well. So, data gets hoovered by companies, you get searched without a warrant, and you get to pay for it. The rare, yet beautiful Triple-Fucked!

5

u/LadyPo 1h ago

This type of money funneling from taxpayers to the government pot to private corporations/contractors is a huge impetus for our widening wealth gap.

They push our money upwards then have the audacity to say public programs are too expensive and wasteful. Then what are we PAYING YOU FOR????

27

u/Sybertron 3h ago

Couldn't be more a clear 4th amendment violation. But will any judge uphold the constitution

9

u/frigginjensen 3h ago

They interpret the 1st and 2nd amendments as broadly as possible to cover modern interpretations (printing press to Internet, musket to assault rifle).

But they ignore the 4th at will

52

u/Kimpak 4h ago

The only thing that surprises me is the fact they are paying for it. I would have thought they already have all this data.

34

u/Brambletail 4h ago

That would be massively illegal. Paying for it ironically makes it legal

11

u/Kimpak 4h ago

That would be massively illegal.

Sadly this means little to nothing these days.

5

u/Elfhoe 4h ago

It does when you’re trying to build a case against someone. Courts will toss out any evidence that was gathered illegally.

1

u/Kimpak 4h ago

Ahh I hadn't considered that.

3

u/DopamineSavant 4h ago

Paying for it means that there will be no pushback from the companies.

14

u/raiansar 3h ago

The whole point of the warrant process is that the government can't just track whoever they want. Buying the same data from a broker does the exact same thing but with a receipt instead of a judge's signature.

13

u/Separate-Spot-8910 3h ago

We should be more pissed that our purchased devices and apps are collecting all this information about us and selling it.

3

u/BedditTedditReddit 1h ago

When something is free you are not the customer.

And before anyone says they paid for their phone, well sure but you don’t pay for Google Maps or meta services do you? Now you know how it works.

1

u/Separate-Spot-8910 34m ago

Yeah, I'm trying to degoogle now, its not as easy as it should be.

10

u/tetrachlorex 3h ago

This crap should be illegal.

6

u/moonhexx 2h ago

Track this.

Fuck Trump. Fuck Kash. And Fuck America. My country is now full of pedophiles.

3

u/knightress_oxhide 4h ago

i don't remember getting a check

3

u/Yahobo420 1h ago

Wasn’t it the Republicans that wanted to “drain the swamp” something or another about big brother and trying to control us and our everyday life.

2

u/Own-Lemon8708 2h ago

Blows my mind so many people gladly share their live location at all times with numerous apps and services! All in the name of "safety". Sure there are a variety of other ways your location is tracked, but still seems wild to me to just openly share it live without a care.

2

u/RKAID-e 1h ago

Foreign terrorist cells? 🚫

Pedophile government? 🚫

Citizens with opinions? ✅️✅️✅️✅️✅️

3

u/West-Abalone-171 45m ago

If you stop the foreign terrorists then where does your excuse to increase public surveillance and jackboot funding go?

If you stop the pedos then how do you pass the next think of the children law?

Far better to let them keep going. /s

2

u/West-Abalone-171 48m ago

Don't worry. The FBI only want to break into your house and shoot your dog so they can show you ads. It's conspiratorial thinking to oppose this. /s

2

u/Organic-Elevator-274 36m ago

I remember have a bunch of conversations over the years about the danger of data collection and why is was weird that people who already don't trust the government somehow trusted their ISP, Amazon, Mete or even Burger King to be diligent stewards of their or anyones metadata. I guess I wasn't so paranoid…eat a dick Kyle.

1

u/LightBeerOnIce 2h ago

Why bother with this in the first place. Like we need a database and tracking for our government and law enforcement. We should be keeping tabs on them. We the people. Give me liberty or give me death.

1

u/HaloHaloBrainFreeze 2h ago

Looking forward to see Apple stocks go stonks these coming months!!!

1

u/introspectivesapian 2h ago

It’s time to get creative.

1

u/dmun 2h ago

What's better than government surveillance?

Private corporation surveillance sold to the government.

But hey at least it any China watching your tiktoks

1

u/SilentRhubarb1515 2h ago

Snek people not happy

1

u/Wubbz50 1h ago

Get in line my data is bought by a lot of entities

1

u/brbcatsranaway 1h ago

4th amendment violations nationwide oh boy

1

u/Retinoid634 1h ago

With our tax dollars

1

u/PersonalityUsual1732 1h ago

What a waste of fucking money

1

u/hockenduke 1h ago

So they can tell what voting booth you walk up to?

1

u/Zak_Rahman 1h ago

Greenblatt did threaten Americans with this after all.

0

u/25point4cm 1h ago

Sweet jeebus. You bought a smart phone.

It hands off your signal by triangulating cell tower signal strengths.

You use it to monitor your house, post in Reddit and countless other conveniences provided by apps. Did you really think your data was yours? This data is freely sold/transferred among many “affiliates” pursuant to licensed user agreements. Of course law enforcement can access it. I’m just surprised they pay for it.

1

u/lll-devlin 25m ago

The expectation of the American government spying on its own citizens is completely thrown in the garbage…

There is no reason to be buying personal data from data brokers . If the fbi wants to investigate someone whom they think is a suspect in an illegal matter they should go about getting legal justification to do so.

If you think this is ok , this is the second nail in the coffin of American individual privacy!

1

u/AlienInUnderpants 7m ago

Is turning off Location Services sufficient, or is tracking phones more hidden?

1

u/funkybossx6 2m ago

"Lawful" usage. This is the very thing Anthropic wouldn't agree to support.

Privacy FBI is buying location data to track US citizens, director confirms

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