US Defense Intelligence Agency admits it bought people's location data: Report

The United States government has been buying location data of its citizens collected through smartphones, a new report has revealed.

The memo, obtained by The New York Times sheds light on how an intelligence agency - the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) procured US citizen's location data through brokers.The memo in question was sent to Senator Ron Wyden and reveals that US citizens, irrespective of what part of the world they're in, were being tracked.

Data brokers are responsible for collecting and selling people's information, including data about their information. They then pass on this information to companies, who pay for this data.

Once the brokers have access to this data, they can aggregate it, and also sell it to parties willing to pay for it, which includes the US government in this case.

The Verge quoted the memo as saying that DIA "personnel can only query the US location database when authorized through a specific process”. This process, it adds, requires permission from seniors along with the Office of Oversight and Compliance, and the Office of General Counsel.

In addition, the agency claims to have seen location data of citizens five times in the last two and a half years.

The Fourth Amendment in the US requires agencies to procure a warrant before accessing data from third party companies. The DIA claims to have not been trespassing this provision and claims that it is not possible for it isn't invoking the power of law.

The memo adds how the DIA “does not construe the Carpenter decision to require a judicial warrant endorsing purchase or use of commercially available data for intelligence purposes.”