Another instance showcasing the (ab)use of location data by US government agencies has come to light thanks to documents revealed via a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request filed with the US Secret Service (USSS).
This one involves the USSS agents' warrantless use of the Locate X tool, produced by a third party, Babel Street, which has also supplied it to the US Treasury the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), and the Department of Defense (DoD).
Locate X tracks people's phones and then provides an interactive map that shows their precise movements. The reason the USSS thought no warrant would be needed to carry out this type of surveillance is what 404 Media, which submitted the FOIA request, said was the fact users "agreed to an opaque terms of service page."
That can be found in a variety of "ordinary" apps' permissions, which most users are believed to tap to accept without ever actually reading the terms. And while declaring that data would be collected, the apps in question "often" failed to specify that it may also be turned over to law enforcement.
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