The FBI has resumed purchasing Americans’ data and location histories from commercial data brokers to support federal investigations, Director Kash Patel testified.

This marks the first public confirmation since 2023 that the agency is actively buying such data, which is often collected from consumer apps and games.

Senator Ron Wyden criticized the practice as a circumvention of Fourth Amendment protections, since no warrant is required to access commercially available information.

Agencies argue the purchases are legal under the Electronic Communications Privacy Act, though this approach has not been tested in court, Tech Crunch has reported.

Lawmakers have introduced the Government Surveillance Reform Act, which would mandate a court-authorized warrant before federal agencies can buy Americans’ location or personal data from brokers.