(Ken Silva, Headline USA) FBI Director Kashyap Patel admitted Wednesday that the bureau purchases U.S. commercial geolocation data in bulk without a warrant—defending the constitutionally dubious practice by saying that it helps protect the American data.
The Fourth Amendment of the Constitution requires law enforcement agencies to obtain a court order when demanding personal data from communications companies. However, many agencies are bypassing this constitutional requirement simply by purchasing the data from companies, rather than demanding it via court order.
In 2023, former FBI Director Chris Wray said that he didn’t think the bureau bought private geolocation data. But Patel said Wednesday that the FBI indeed does buy such data. He refused to continue the practice.
“The FBI uses all tools to do our mission. We do purchase commercially available information … It has led to some valuable intelligence for us,” he said.
Wyden expressed displeasure with Patel’s answer. He touted his bill, Government Surveillance Reform Act, which would ban the purchase of private U.S. data without a warrant.
The FBI just acknowledged that the federal government buys Americans' location data in its testimony to the Senate Select Subcommittee on Intelligence.
This is a clear violation of the Fourth Amendment and is why I introduced the Government Surveillance Reform Act – to close the… pic.twitter.com/xUcadlQc2c
— Rep. Warren Davidson (@Rep_Davidson) March 18, 2026
The FBI is just one of an untold number of agencies that engage in the warrantless purchase of commercial data.
For example, in December 2023, the outgoing director of the National Security Agency, Gen. Paul Nakasone, admitted to doing so.
“NSA acquires various types of [commercially available information] for foreign intelligence, cybersecurity and other authorized mission purposes, to include enhancing its signal intelligence and cybersecurity missions,” Nakasone told Wyden.
“This may include information associated with electronic devices being used outside—and, in certain cases, inside—the United States. However, NSA does not buy and use location data collected from phones known to be used in the U.S. either with or without a court order.”
Before that, former National Intelligence Director Avril Haines released a report in 2023, confirming that U.S. spy agencies are collecting vast amounts of social media, cell phone and other commercial data.
Examples cited in the report include the Defense Intelligence Agency—the Pentagon’s main intelligence agency—having a system that buys geolocation data around the world.
The FBI also has a contract with the online intelligence firm ZeroFox for “social media alerting,” and the U.S. Navy has a contract with Sayari Analytics, Inc. for access to its database, which purportedly “contains tens of thousands of previously-unidentified specific nodes, facilities and key people related to U.S.-sanctioned actors,” according to the report.
The DHS, meanwhile, has a corporate tool that allows it to analyze companies around the globe and their relationships to various subsidiaries.
Ken Silva is the editor of Headline USA. Follow him at x.com/jd_cashless.
