It is clear that the U.S. government was purchasing location information data of smartphones without a warrant

On January 22, 2021, it was revealed that an intelligence agency within the US Department of Defense ( Defense Intelligence Agency DIA ) had purchased location information that could be obtained from US citizens' smartphones without a warrant.

Intelligence Analysts Use US Smartphone Location Data Without Warrants, Memo Says --The New York Times
https://www.nytimes.com/2021/01/22/us/politics/dia-surveillance-data.html?smid=tw-share

Intelligence agency gathers US smartphone location data without warrants, memo says | The Hill
https://thehill.com/policy/national-security/535441-intelligence-agency-gathers-us-smartphone-location-data-without

US Defense Intelligence Agency admits to buying citizens' location data --The Verge
https://www.theverge.com/2021/1/22/22244848/us-intelligence-memo-admits-buying-smartphone-location-data

The New York Times reported that DIA's document to Senator Ron Weiden admitted that DIA had purchased smartphone location information from a private company that collects and sells consumer information. There is. It is also clear that the location information purchased by DIA was not limited to that in the United States. In the document, DIA claims that 'only personnel approved by the appropriate agency can access location information,' and 'between 2021 and the last two and a half years, permission to access location information has been granted five times. It is also stated. The full text of the document can be found on this page (PDF file) .

here's the defense intelligence agency memo confirming that the government is buying commercially available smartphone location data w / oa warrant pic.twitter.com/DXGH24PRph

— Chris mills rodrigo (@chrisismills) January 22, 2021

The Fourth Amendment to the United States Constitution states that 'people have the right to be guaranteed their bodies and belongings from unreasonable searches and must not issue warrants without good reason.' In purchasing location information, he claimed that 'this constitution does not apply because the authorities have not exercised the authority of the law.' In addition, the United States Supreme Court issued a warrant in 2018 that law enforcement agencies such as police need a warrant to obtain location information from personal terminals, citing the Carpenter v. United States judgment as an example . Purchasing commercial data for the purpose does not fall under the interpretation of this ruling. '

'The government cannot buy constitutionally protected data,' Ashley Gorsky, a senior lawyer at the American Civil Liberties Union , said in a statement. We are calling on Congress to end illegal practices and protect public data from all institutions.