https://futurism.com/cops-buying-social-media-location-data-without-warrant/ Dan Robitzski in Hard Science On August 18, 2020 Data Brokers A shocking number of apps on your phone, ranging from sports to weather , are probably quietly selling your location data to the highest bidder. And according to documents obtained by Motherboard , that bidder is sometimes federal law enforcement. The Secret Service paid millions of dollars to a company called Babel Street for its “Locate X” product, which tracks mobile devices using location data scraped from a number of apps, according to the documents . And because the agency is buying the data rather than obtaining it through the courts, it can do so without a warrant. Flagrant Loophole Normally, obtaining that sort of data would require the oversight of a judge. But purchasing it circumvents that requirement, meaning the shady practice can violate the spirit — if not the letter — of the Fourth Amendment. A similar company, Venntel, sells
