Kash Patel Admits FBI Has Shopped For Your Private Data Without A Warrant

India-West News Desk

WASHINGTON, DC – The Fourth Amendment is taking a serious beating after FBI Director Kash Patel dropped a bombshell under oath: the feds are back to shopping for your private location data.

During a heated Senate Intelligence Committee showdown on March 18, Patel didn’t blink when Senator Ron Wyden (D-OR) cornered him on the bureau’s shopping habits. It was a massive pivot from 2023, when then-Director Christopher Wray told Congress the FBI had hit “pause” on buying data harvested from phone apps and internet ads.

Patel argued back that the bureau only buys “commercially available information” that plays by the rules of the Electronic Communications Privacy Act. He insisted the data has handed the FBI “valuable intelligence.”

Wyden wasn’t buying the corporate speak. He called the practice an “outrageous end run” around the Constitution, warning that using AI to sift through mountains of private info makes the situation even more dangerous.

The loophole is pretty simple but effective: while the law says the FBI needs a judge-signed warrant to get your data from a phone company like Verizon or AT&T, there’s nothing stopping them from just opening a wallet and buying the exact same info from private data brokers.

The Guardian, in its report noted that this workaround effectively makes the Fourth Amendment optional if the government has enough cash.

Patel, leaning into his trademark aggressive style, told the committee the mission is all about protecting the homeland.