Amid Social Media Privacy Scare, FBI Admits To Egregious Constitutional Violation

While various politicians and interest groups wallow in the moral panic over TikTok and “the children,” much closer to everyone’s home were the revelations in this Wall Street Journal story about the FBI admitting it used private cell phone data to track people without a warrant.

Because that Fourth Amendment is such an inconvenience.

The feds say they don’t do it any longer (promises, promises). But FBI director Christopher Wray said plenty of other agencies are still out there conducting warrantless tracking.

The source for much of the data law enforcement bought (and still buys today): it’s all around you:

Phone apps and digital display advertising networks often collect geolocation data from phones and resell it through data brokers, who can also collect internet protocol (IP) addresses as consumers browse the web, pinpointing a user to a specific location.

In-car vehicle-security or infotainment systems also collect and sell vehicle locations, and governments and private sector companies alike are amassing large databases of license plate scans as motorists use public roadways.

And that’s just the beginning. In many cases, users give up data in exchange for convenience. But if you prefer to limit, or at least make a bit tougher, for government and private companies to track you, particularly on your mobile prone, the Electronic Frontier Foundation has a few suggestions:

First, you can disable ad tracking and the mobile ad identifier, which allows data brokers to tie tranches of data to your individual device. Here are instructions for Android and iOS. Second, you can try to limit how many applications on your phone have permission to collect geolocation data. For some applications, like those that give you driving directions, GPS data might be necessary, but for others—like daily cute dog pictures or a Chess app–consider revoking its access to that data.

And as always, remember that in the digital world, there is no such thing as “free.” There’s always a cost…paid for in various amounts of your privacy.

The opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the positions of American Liberty News.

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