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Sen. Wyden presses FBI, agency directors over purchase of commercial location data without warrants
Summary
Sen. Wyden asked agency directors whether they purchase commercially available location data on Americans without warrants; Director Patel said the FBI uses commercially available information in compliance with the Constitution and the Electronic Communications Privacy Act, and Director Adams said purchases of commercially and publicly available data are made "in alignment with the Constitution."
Sen. Wyden pressed agency directors at a Senate Committee on Finance hearing on whether federal agencies purchase commercially available location data about Americans without a warrant and asked for firm commitments not to do so. Citing 2023 testimony from Patel’s predecessor that the agency did not purchase commercial databases that include location data derived from internet advertising, Wyden asked Director Patel whether that remained the case and whether Patel would commit to not buying Americans' location data.
Director Patel replied, "The FBI uses...we do purchase commercially available information consistent with the Constitution and the laws under the Electronic Communications Privacy Act. It has led to some valuable intelligence for us to be utilizing with private partners."
Wyden responded that purchasing such data without a warrant is "an outrageous run around the Fourth Amendment," warned about the magnified risks when artificial intelligence is used to analyze massive private datasets, and urged passage of the bipartisan Government Surveillance Reform Act to close gaps.
Wyden also asked about subpoenas for phone records and whether the government should get a court order to collect them; Patel said "the government does get warrants to obtain phone records."
Later in the exchange, Wyden asked Director Adams whether his agency can buy location data without a warrant and whether it was doing so; Dir. Adams said purchases of commercially and publicly available information "that this agency makes is in alignment with the Constitution and protects U.S. persons information."
Why it matters: The exchange highlights a key privacy tension in modern investigations — whether using commercially available data that includes location signals requires a warrant to satisfy Fourth Amendment protections and how agencies interpret statutory and constitutional limits. Wyden used the public hearing to press for clearer limits and for legislative reform.
