Intel agencies buying ‘sensitive and intimate’ data on US citizens
The US government’s intelligence agencies, including the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), Department of Homeland Security (DHS), and National Security Agency (NSA), have been gathering sensitive and intimate data on citizens by “flouting the law,” according to a report prepared for the Director of National Intelligence, Avril Haines, that has only just been declassified. Intelligence agencies have access to citizens’ phone and location data via a loophole that allows them to purchase huge troves of information without a warrant, which is considered “publicly available” if it’s bought rather than demanded. This constitutes a significant threat to the public, as outdated policies wrongly categorize information that is for sale as publicly available. The report notes the same data can be purchased by other companies, making it potentially exploitable. The brokers who sell this data are often unfamiliar companies that do not reveal their sources. While many cellphone apps request the right to sell user data, including location data, there is no federal privacy law in the US, leaving citizens unaware of where their data goes.
FAQs
What data can intelligence agencies obtain on citizens?
Intelligence agencies can obtain sensitive and intimate data, including phone and location data, via a loophole that allows them to purchase huge troves of information without a warrant. This data is considered “publicly available” if it’s bought rather than demanded.
Why is this concerning for citizens?
This is concerning for citizens because intelligence agencies have amassed huge caches of data on them, making it easier to track people without their knowledge or consent. Outdated policies wrongly categorize information that is for sale as publicly available, constituting a significant threat to the public. This data can be purchased by other companies, making it potentially exploitable.
What can this data be used for?
If this data ends up in the wrong hands, it could easily be used to facilitate blackmail, stalking, harassment, and public shaming against people. The same data can also be purchased by other companies, meaning it can potentially be exploited.
US intelligence agencies acquiring “sensitive and intimate” information about American nationals.
US government agencies, including the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and National Security Agency (NSA), have acquired massive amounts of “sensitive and intimate” data on citizens by circumventing the law, according to privacy advocates. The startling revelation of the extent of government overreach into citizens’ lives was made in a report to Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines, which has now been declassified. The report highlights how a loophole enables intelligence agencies to purchase vast amounts of data, enabling them to track American citizens’ phones and locations without the need for a warrant. It cautions that if intelligence agencies pay for the information, it is perceived as “publicly available”. However, if the government wants access to an individual’s cell phone location, Fourth Amendment regulations classify it as a search, requiring judicial sign-off.
“This report reveals what we feared most,” said Sean Vitka, a policy attorney at non-profit Demand Progress. “Intelligence agencies are flouting the law and buying information about Americans that Congress and the Supreme Court have made clear the government should not have.” The panel of advisers who compiled the report for the Office of the Director of National Intelligence warned that a vast amount of what the government refers to as “publicly available information” poses a significant threat to the public. Outdated policies, they said, create confusion between data for sale and public availability. They caution that today’s vast datasets for purchase expose more people, are more revealing, impossible to avoid, and less well understood than in the past.
The same data can also be purchased by other companies, leading to possible exploitation. Such data are often sold as anonymised, with personal information, including names and phone numbers removed, and only a person’s sex, age and location retained. But the report noted that it’s relatively easy to identify individuals from such information. The report cites an example of how it could be possible to identify groups of people who attended a protest based on their smartphone locations or ad-tracking records. Companies that sell mass amounts of data, such as Safegraph and Gravy Analytics, are unfamiliar to most people.
FBI Director Christopher Wray admitted in March that his agency had purchased cellphone geolocation data. He said that the bureau had since amended its practices and now goes through a “court-authorized process” to obtain such data. Unlike many developed countries, the US has no federal privacy law, and most citizens are unaware of the data they give away daily and to whom they give it.