U.S. government agencies buy location data from app brokers to skip warrant requirements. Caitlin Sarian walks through which apps track you (weather, shopping, games, flashlight) and five concrete steps to stop it: disable location permissions, use DuckDuckGo, block trackers, add a VPN, and reset your ad ID.
Government agencies have been purchasing your location data from commercial data broker sites. So if you think your location is private, think again. Welcome to the Surveillance Files, where we expose how the government and tech watch your every move. Hi, I'm Caitlin. I'm a cyber security and data protection expert. I want to help you protect yourself online. Let's go. The US Government agencies like the IRS and the Pentagon have been buying your location data from data brokers. Why? Because it lets them bypass warrant laws and still get a full history of where you've been. The data comes from apps you use every day, like weather apps, shopping apps, flashlights, games that collect your GPS and sell it. So why is this happening? The US Government found a loophole. Since the data is commercially available, agencies argue that they don't need a warrant to access it. This was exposed in 2023 during the Congressional hearing on surveillance abuse. So what can you do? Turn off location access for any app that doesn't absolutely need it. Use browsers like DuckDuckGo and Block Trackers. And if you want to go deeper, use a trusted VPN and reset your AD ID. If you go on my page, CybersecurityGirl, you will see more videos with step by step walkthroughs on how to keep you and your loved ones safe. Follow for more.
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