The American Secret Service has made some shocking confessions about tracking users. This includes making use of location details that may have never been given with consent.
The top security agency made the confessions in a new email that was first spotted by
404 Media. They spoke about tracing people down through a monitoring tool found on a mobile phone.
The content of the email screenshot in transcript form:
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Please see the below response from INV. In addition, if a SME is needed, Supervisory Cyber-Financial Forensic Analyst ███████ will be your POC. Please keep INV-SP in the loop with any additional needs.
Whether the Secret Service is obtaining a warrant before querying the Locate X service to track the movement of a phone located in the United States.
No.
Whether the Secret Service's general counsel has taken the position that purchased location data is not subject to protections under the Fourth Amendment
On September 25, 2020, the DHS Office of the General Counsel issued a memorandum on the use of commercially available geolocation data associated with the advertising identifier (AdID). The Senior Official Performing the Duties of the General Counsel determined that the use of AdID data can continue being incorporated into investigative techniques and protocols without a warrant, because there is "a strong argument that the use of AdID data does not constitute a 'search." This memorandum was specific to the use of AdID data by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Customs and Border Protection (CBP). The USSS, as a component of DHS, relies on this memorandum as instructive.
What steps the Secret Service has taken to verify that the location data it purchased from Babel Street was obtained by consumers who consented to the onwards sale and sharing of the data* and not just to the initial collection and use by a mobile app.
None.
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The email brings to light for the first time how the Secret Service and a host of leading American federal agencies might be monitoring citizens unlawfully through data taken commercially. Without a warrant and consent attained, this could be categorized as unlawful behavior/activity.
More information about the tool was released including how it’s dubbed Locate X and under the ownership of Babel Street. The email shared from 2022 had the Secret Service provide exact details on which steps it took to verify the data that was bought from the company. Also, it was asked which measures it implemented to make sure consumers provided consent to selling and sharing of data.
Remember, location data can arise from a host of different sources. This includes some apps found on different people’s phones including weather and navigation. To many people’s dismay, their answer was none and consumers were stunned. Remember, this is American leading security agency for intelligence and it’s alarming for it to not verify the information.
A few weeks back, reports from 404 Media
were published that put never-before-seen pictures with details on display about Locate X. In the demo videos that were leaked, one user drew geofence around a specific area and that followed mobile phones that were in the location.
There was one instance where users could track movements for the phones that paid visits to sensitive areas like abortion clinics. There was
another bombshell email where officials from the Secret Service squad would argue over warrants needed for using Locate X.
For usual cellphone history data, warrants are needed but when consent is provided, no such warrant is necessary. This is because people agree to the terms of service put forward. But the latest email on discussion shows how that was not provided.
It’s outrageous to make claims about users waiving off privacy rights for any agency from the government that wishes to attain location data. Looking back at 2022, the Secret Service shared more about how no action was further taken on this front.
Instead, they tried to justify the act at first with claims about using different tools in investigations that apply to current policies and laws. Whatever the case might be, it’s alarming to see what happened and how big agencies are breaking the law by utilizing commercially attained location information. There was even one case in the discussion where a leading official used the information to track the locations of different colleagues without any real purpose.
Image: DIW-Aigen
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by Dr. Hura Anwar via Digital Information World
