The Department of Homeland Security (DHS, or US Department of the Interior) obtains huge amounts of personal data through data brokers.
Normally, this data should not be accessible to the authorities without a warrant.
Federal agencies collect personal data from Americans
Federal immigration (ICE) and border security (CBP) agencies are said to have purchased large amounts of personal data from data dealers or brokers, such as Venntel and Babel Street. This data has notably made it possible to track the movements of certain smartphones, up to 26 geographical points per minute in a single area. The ICE agency alone retrieves data from 250 million smartphones and records 15 billion geographical points per day. All this, without a warrant or special authorization.
These brokers initially collect this personal data from apps and resell it for marketing purposes. US authorities can thus monitor millions of Americans in detail, whether or not they are involved in criminal investigations or activities. ICE uses location data to identify immigrant flows at the Mexican border and stop them.
An illegal operation?
The problem is that according to the ACLU (the American Civil Liberties Union), this collection of information is illegal, according to the Fourth Amendment of the American Constitution which protects citizens from abusive searches and seizures. In its complaint, the ACLU therefore asks the authorities to justify such actions.
Venntel has sold similar data to other US government agencies, such as the IRS (tax agency), FBI and DEA (drug tax agency), each time without a warrant. The ACLU has asked Congress to get involved and regulate the role of data brokers. Senator Elizabeth Warren had previously proposed a bill to completely ban the sale of location or health data by private agencies.
Source : The Verge
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