A US senator has provided several testimonies indicating that the NSA, a branch of US intelligence specializing in cyber, buys personal information from data brokers on the web.
New controversy in sight around personal data? U.S. Senator Ron Wyden released a letter Jan. 25 alleging that the NSA, the U.S. electronic intelligence agency, buys citizens’ information from data brokers. These companies typically work for marketing agencies looking to target social media users.
The Democratic congressman from Oregon provided documents to the New York Times, including a memo that contains several statements from senior defense officials. They acknowledge that the NSA purchases commercial data, including Internet metadata and information associated with phones located in the United States.
Ron Wyden calls on the Biden administration to ban intelligence agencies from purchasing personal data obtained from specialized companies. He cited a recent Federal Trade Commission (FTC) order that requires data brokers to obtain informed consent from Americans before selling certain data to U.S. military customers without their knowledge.
Intelligence admits that personal data is purchased on the web
The senator, who has been campaigning for a ban on this practice for several years, received a response from American defense in December.
In a letter addressed to the elected official on December 19, Ronald Moultrie, head of American intelligence, acknowledges that the NSA buys “ commercial data, which includes information associated with phones located inside and outside the United States. It uses this data, or part of it, if necessary, in accordance with applicable legal and regulatory authorities, in order to carry out legal intelligence or cybersecurity missions. »
The director of intelligence specifies that “ the organization does not purchase location data collected from phones “. A fairly vague statement since a lot of information retrieved from the web allows us to know the geographic location of the user.
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