FBI confirms it resumed buying Americans’ location data from brokers

In short: The FBI confirmed it has resumed buying Americans’ location data and other personal information from data brokers to support federal investigations.

What happened

The FBI, led by Director Kash Patel, told Congress on March 18, 2026 that it is purchasing location data and other personal information about Americans from data brokers. Data brokers are companies that collect and sell personal data, often gathered from phone apps, games, and online advertising systems.

Patel said the FBI uses these purchases as part of its investigative work and claimed it is done in line with the Constitution and a federal privacy law called the Electronic Communications Privacy Act. When Senator Ron Wyden asked if the FBI would stop buying this data, Patel did not agree to end the practice.

This was the first time since 2023 that the FBI publicly admitted to buying this kind of data. Patel argued the data can provide useful leads, but critics say it is an “end-run” around the Fourth Amendment, which is the part of the Constitution that limits unreasonable searches.

Why it matters

In 2018, the US Supreme Court said the government generally needs a warrant to get detailed location history from phone companies. Buying similar information from brokers can avoid that step, because the data is sold on the open market (like purchasing a dossier instead of asking a judge for permission). Whether this approach is legal has not been fully tested in court.

Lawmakers have also proposed a response. A bipartisan bill introduced on March 13, 2026, called the Government Surveillance Reform Act, would require federal agencies to get a court warrant before buying Americans’ data from brokers.

Source: Wired