The Secret Service bought phone location data, dodging the need for a warrant

A newly released Secret Service document confirms that U.S. law enforcement has been purchasing phone location data gathered from popular apps — soundly circumventing the need for a warrant.

Obtained by Motherboard through a Freedom of Information Act request, the 2017 contract shows the Secret Service bought a product called Locate X from Virginian social media surveillance company Babel Street. Locate X is able to track a cell phone's movements using anonymised location data collected by various apps, and is so secretive that its mere existence is confidential information.

Using Locate X, the Secret Service could identify devices that were in a specified area during a specified time, and track their movements months before and after that event. Simply follow that trail to a house and presto, that anonymous data is anonymous no more. Read more...

More about Privacy, Surveillance, Secret Service, Law Enforcement, and Location Data

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