In an unconstitutional overstep, DHS and other agencies have been tracking Americans using cell phone location information gathered from smartphone apps.

Today, the ACLU released thousands of pages documenting how our Fourth Amendment right against unreasonable government searches and seizures is being violated by Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Customs and Border Protection, and other parts of DHS.
According to the ACLU, our government is using tax dollars to purchase people’s location information, which is being collected and sold by data brokers, Venntel and Babel Street. The ACLU obtained documents over the past year through a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuit and is encouraging Congress to pass a bill protecting the Fourth Amendment. Americans are supposed to be protected from warrantless surveillance.

Clearly, most smartphone users do not believe they are permitting companies to track them when they download an app. Customers are not waiving their 4th amendment rights or permitting the government to follow their every move, Sen. Ron Wyden points out.

 

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