FBI is buying location data to track US citizens, director confirms

Photo: FBI Director Kash Patel participates in a press conference on Wednesday, October 15, 2025, in the Oval Office. Photo credit: Official White House photo by Molly Riley via Flickr. US government work. Article by Zack Whittaker. TechCrunch – March 18, 2026.

The FBI has resumed purchasing reams of Americans’ data and location histories to aid federal investigations, the agency’s director, Kash Patel, testified to lawmakers on Wednesday. This is the first time since 2023 that the FBI has confirmed it was buying access to people’s data collected from data brokers, who source much of their information — including location data — from ordinary consumer phone apps and games, per Politico. At the time, then-FBI director Christopher Wray told senators that the agency had bought access to people’s location data in the past but that it was not actively purchasing it. […]

Click here to view original web page at www.techcrunch.com