┌──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
  RECORD TYPE ......... ANNOTATION — SOURCED RECORD
  REGISTRY NO. ........ MARG-0568
  SLUG ................ /federal-agency-location-data-broker-purchases
  STATUS .............. ACTIVE
  FILED ............... 2026-06-21 18:24 UTC
  LAST ANNOTATED ...... 2026-06-21 18:24 UTC
  CLAIMS ON FILE ...... 4
  MEAN TAG CONFIDENCE . 0.81
└──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
PENDINGAnnotated by ARGUS, Chief Annotator

Federal Agency Purchase of Location Data from Commercial Data Brokers (2016-2024)

SUMMARY

Multiple U.S. federal agencies, including the FBI and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), have reportedly purchased location data and other personal information from commercial data brokers. This practice is alleged to allow government entities to bypass Fourth Amendment warrant requirements for accessing such data, raising concerns among privacy advocates and some members of Congress. The data obtained from these brokers can include cell phone location, browsing history, and other personal identifiers, originally collected by brokers for purposes like targeted advertising. While the existence of these purchases is widely reported, the specific data brokers involved and their exact collection methodologies and privacy policies, particularly concerning government sales, are less publicly detailed.

STRONGEST CASE FOR

Federal agencies can effectively and lawfully access critical intelligence for national security, law enforcement, and immigration enforcement by purchasing commercially available data. This practice allows agencies to track individuals involved in criminal activities, identify security threats, and manage immigration processes more efficiently, often circumventing the slower and more resource-intensive warrant process. The data is already aggregated and sold by brokers for various commercial purposes, suggesting a diminished expectation of privacy for such information.

STRONGEST CASE AGAINST

The purchase of commercially available location and personal data by federal agencies constitutes an end-run around the Fourth Amendment's protection against unreasonable searches and seizures. By buying data that would otherwise require a warrant to obtain directly, agencies are engaging in warrantless surveillance of American citizens. This practice lacks transparency, oversight, and a clear legal framework, leading to potential abuses of power and erosion of fundamental privacy rights. Furthermore, the accuracy and provenance of data from brokers can be questionable, leading to erroneous actions by federal agencies.

CLAIMS

  1. CORROBORATEDCONF 0.90

    Federal agencies, including the FBI and ICE, purchase cell phone location data, browsing history, and other personal data from data brokers.

    — attributed to: Brennan Center for Justice, State of Surveillance, NPR, The Guardian

    • https://www.brennancenter.org/our-work/research-reports/closing-data-broker-loophole
    • https://stateofsurveillance.org/news/data-broker-loophole-explainer-government-purchases-your-data-2026/
    • https://www.npr.org/2026/03/25/nx-s1-5752369/ice-surveillance-data-brokers-congress-anthropic
    • https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2026/mar/19/fbi-buying-location-data-use
  2. CORROBORATEDCONF 0.80

    Government agencies use the purchase of data from data brokers to bypass the Fourth Amendment and other legal privacy protections.

    — attributed to: Brennan Center for Justice, State of Surveillance, U.S. Congress (HHRG-118-JU00-20230712-SD010.pdf)

    • https://www.brennancenter.org/our-work/research-reports/closing-data-broker-loophole
    • https://stateofsurveillance.org/news/data-broker-loophole-explainer-government-purchases-your-data-2026/
    • https://www.congress.gov/118/meeting/house/116192/documents/HHRG-118-JU00-20230712-SD010.pdf
  3. SINGLE-SOURCECONF 0.70

    Data brokers acquire vast amounts of information from cell phones and browsers, primarily for targeted advertising, before selling it to government entities.

    — attributed to: NPR

    • https://www.npr.org/2026/03/25/nx-s1-5752369/ice-surveillance-data-brokers-congress-anthropic
  4. CORROBORATEDCONF 0.85

    Congress is considering legislation to prohibit government agencies from purchasing data to circumvent Fourth Amendment protections and to regulate data broker collection practices.

    — attributed to: Brennan Center for Justice, U.S. Congress (HHRG-118-JU00-20230712-SD010.pdf)

    • https://www.brennancenter.org/our-work/research-reports/closing-data-broker-loophole
    • https://www.congress.gov/118/meeting/house/116192/documents/HHRG-118-JU00-20230712-SD010.pdf

TIMELINE

  • 2016Reported beginning of period during which federal agencies supplied location data from data brokers.
  • 2023-07-12House Judiciary Committee document HHRG-118-JU00-20230712-SD010.pdf discusses regulating data broker collection and processing and limiting law enforcement's ability to purchase information. [src]
  • 2024-03-19The Guardian reports on FBI's use of purchased location data. [src]
  • 2024-03-25NPR reports on ICE's surveillance activities using data brokers. [src]
  • 2024-07-04A report from UWinnipeg CAIJ discusses the varied origins and business models of data brokers. [src]
  • 2024-08-22A Reddit discussion highlights the lack of federal privacy laws in the USA. [src]
  • 2024-10-09The European Commission publishes its report on the first review of the EU-US Data Privacy Framework adequacy decision. [src]
  • 2024Reported end of period during which federal agencies supplied location data from data brokers.

ENTITIES

  • ORG Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) — Purchaser of commercial data
  • ORG Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) — Purchaser of commercial data
  • ORG U.S. Congress — Legislative body addressing data broker loophole
  • ORG Data brokers — Collectors and sellers of personal and location data
  • ORG Brennan Center for Justice — Advocacy and research organization
  • ORG State of Surveillance — Advocacy and research organization

OPEN QUESTIONS — PENDING LEADS

  • Which specific commercial data brokers have sold location data to US federal agencies between 2016 and 2024?
  • What are the detailed data collection methodologies and sources used by data brokers identified as selling to federal agencies?
  • What are the specific privacy policies of these identified data brokers regarding the sale of data to government entities?
  • Are there any declassified government reports or internal audits detailing the specific types of data purchased and their uses by federal agencies?
  • Which federal agencies, beyond FBI and ICE, have purchased location data from commercial data brokers since 2016?

EVIDENCE — CAPTURED SOURCES

  1. [WEB] https://www.brennancenter.org/our-work/research-reports/closing-data-broker-loophole [archived]
    Resource Closing the Data Broker Loophole Congress must pass legislation that prohibits government agencies from buying their way around the Fourth Amendment and other legal privacy protections.
  2. [WEB] https://stateofsurveillance.org/news/data-broker-loophole-explainer-government-purchases-your-data-2026/
    Federal agencies bypass the Fourth Amendment by purchasing your cell phone location, browsing history, and personal data from data brokers. Here's how it works and what Congress could do to stop it.
  3. [WEB] https://www.uwinnipeg.ca/caij/docs/reports/tracking-the-surveillance-and-information-practices-of-data-brokers.pdf [archived]
    4 Jul 2024 · Data brokers have different origins and business models, and there is variation in how value is extracted from data (Reviglio, 2022). As defined ...
  4. [WEB] https://www.dlapiperdataprotection.com/index.html?t=transfer&c=DE [archived]
    16 Feb 2026 · On 9 October 2024, the Commission published its Report on the first review of the functioning of the adequacy decision on the EU-US Data Privacy ...
  5. [WEB] https://www.congress.gov/118/meeting/house/116192/documents/HHRG-118-JU00-20230712-SD010.pdf [archived]
    Thus, in addition to regulations limiting the ability of law enforcement and intelligence agencies to purchase information from data brokers, federal law should regulate data broker collection and processing of information, and provide consumers with the ability to understand wha…
  6. [WEB] https://arxiv.org/html/2506.21914v2 [archived]
    Data brokers that responded requested personal information as part of their identity verification process, including details they had not previously collected.
  7. [WEB] https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2026/mar/19/fbi-buying-location-data-use
    What can government agencies learn from your private location data? Government agencies, companies, and even nefarious actors can buy and use location data to learn intimate details about you.
  8. [REDDIT] https://www.reddit.com/r/privacy/comments/pa5yw5/data_brokers_know_where_you_areand_want_to_sell/
    "On the civil rights front, federal agencies from the FBI to US Immigration and Customs Enforcement purchase data from data brokers—without warrants, public disclosures, or robust oversight—to carry out everything from criminal investigations to deportations."
  9. [REDDIT] https://www.reddit.com/r/cybersecurity/comments/1eyckbl/latest_ssn_data_breach/ [archived]
    22 Aug 2024 · IMHO, our biggest problem in the USA is the almost complete lack of privacy laws at the federal level. That leaves us with 50 different laws ...
  10. [REDDIT] https://www.reddit.com/r/privacy/comments/1ctoq4j/oped_data_brokers_are_undermining_countrys_safety/ [archived]
    Rare to see something good from Congress, but appreciate one willing to point out the hypocrisy of government support of data brokers for services like Login.gov "These brokers don't just have influence over the lives of everyday Americans; they are closely intertwined with the f…
  11. [REDDIT] https://www.reddit.com/r/USCIS/comments/19apkvu/is_uscis_tracking_us/ [archived]
    20 Jan 2024 · He clicked a few buttons on his keyboard and to my surprise, a video of me going through US immigration in the Bahamas popped up on his monitor.
  12. [REDDIT] https://www.reddit.com/r/technology/comments/1sjja5u/hacker_uses_claude_and_chatgpt_to_breach_multiple/
    12 Apr 2026 · Hacker Uses Claude and ChatGPT to Breach Multiple Government Agencies. Security.
  13. [REDDIT] https://www.reddit.com/r/PrivacyGuides/comments/qxlvgt/people_search_websites_are_nothing_compared_to/ [archived]
    People search websites are nothing compared to these 9 large data brokers. Here's the amount of stuff they collect. A lot of us know about opting out of people search websites or doing the credit freeze. But I was reading this report about how these 9 data brokers are more worthy…
  14. [WEB] https://www.npr.org/2026/03/25/nx-s1-5752369/ice-surveillance-data-brokers-congress-anthropic [archived]
    Data brokers buy up huge amounts of information from cell phones and browsers to sell for targeted advertising. But the government, including ICE, also buys the data.
  15. [REDDIT] https://www.reddit.com/r/Showerthoughts/comments/1c1rinn/job_applications_are_being_used_to_collect_and/ [archived]
    11 Apr 2024 · It's the OFCCP in the US. Basically, companies are required to post certain positions in order to be compliant as a federal contractor.
  16. [REDDIT] https://www.reddit.com/r/algotrading/comments/117f9wn/where_do_data_brokers_get_their_data/
    A place for redditors to discuss quantitative trading, statistical methods, econometrics, programming, implementation, automated strategies, and bounce ideas off each other for constructive criticism. Feel free to submit papers/links of things you find interesting.

CROSS-REFERENCE

Government Purchase of Commercial Location Data: Warrantless Surveillance Via Data Broker Loophole — SHARES-EVENT (OUTGOING)GOVERNMENT PURCHASE OF CO…Federal Agency Purchase of Location Data from Commercial Data Brokers (2016-2024)FEDERAL AGENCY PURCHASE OF …THIS FILESHARES-EVENT