ICE Is Buying Your Location Data. Here's What to Know.
More than 70 members of Congress are demanding answers after reports surfaced that Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has resumed purchasing Americans' location data without a warrant. The practice was previously investigated, found to be illegal, and shut down in 2023. Now it appears to be back, and lawmakers want to know why.
Congresswoman Veronica Escobar, along with over 70 Democratic colleagues, sent a letter to DHS Inspector General Joseph Cuffari urging a formal investigation. At the center of the concern: a no-bid contract ICE issued in 2025 to a surveillance company for a location tracking product. That means no competitive bidding process, no public scrutiny, and, according to lawmakers, no warrant.
What Warrantless Location Tracking Actually Means
The Fourth Amendment is supposed to protect Americans from unreasonable searches. Courts have generally interpreted this to mean that law enforcement needs a warrant to track your physical movements over time. The Supreme Court made this clearer in its 2018 Carpenter v. United States ruling, which held that accessing historical cell-site location data without a warrant violates the Constitution.
But there is a significant loophole that federal agencies have exploited: buying that data from commercial brokers instead of requesting it from carriers. The argument goes that if a private company collects and sells the data, the government is just a customer, not conducting a "search" in the legal sense. Critics, including the lawmakers behind this letter, say that is a distinction without a difference, and that the effect on civil liberties is the same regardless of how the data was obtained.
When ICE issues a contract for a "location tracking product," it is not just tracking suspected criminals. These tools typically ingest location data collected from apps on millions of ordinary smartphones, covering millions of ordinary Americans who have never been accused of anything.
Why This Program Was Shut Down Before
This is not the first time ICE's use of commercial location data has drawn scrutiny. A previous investigation found the data purchases to be illegal, which led to the program being shut down in 2023. The fact that a new contract appears to have been issued in 2025, through a no-bid process, is what has lawmakers particularly alarmed.
A no-bid contract means there was no open competition among vendors, and typically no public record of the scope, cost, or capabilities being purchased. Combined with the previous legal findings against this type of program, lawmakers argue the Inspector General needs to step in and investigate whether ICE is simply picking up where it left off, this time hoping less attention is paid.
The letter to Inspector General Cuffari raises concerns about mass surveillance and violations of civil liberties, noting that this kind of location data can reveal deeply personal details: where someone sleeps, who they associate with, which medical facilities they visit, and which places of worship they attend.
What This Means For You
You do not have to be the subject of an immigration investigation for this to affect you. The data these surveillance companies sell is collected broadly, often from free apps that request location permissions on your phone. It is then aggregated, sold, and resold across a marketplace that has very little regulation.
Here is the chain that matters: an app on your phone collects your location, sells it to a data broker, and that broker sells it to a government agency, all without any judicial oversight. Your internet service provider (ISP) can also observe your online activity and, in some cases, your approximate location, and may be subject to requests or purchases by third parties.
Using a trustworthy VPN like hide.me is one practical step you can take to reduce your exposure in this ecosystem. A VPN masks your IP address, which limits what your ISP and the websites you visit can see about your location and browsing habits. That means less data entering the pipeline in the first place. It does not make you invisible, but it significantly reduces the amount of location-linked data that can be collected, aggregated, and potentially sold to government agencies.
It is also worth auditing the location permissions on your phone. Many apps request access to your precise location when they do not need it at all. Revoking those permissions wherever possible limits how much data brokers can collect about your movements in the first place.
Oversight Has Limits. Personal Protection Matters.
Lawmakers calling for an investigation is an important step, and accountability through proper oversight channels is how these programs should be challenged. But investigations take time, and legal and political remedies are rarely fast. In the meantime, the data marketplace keeps running.
Understanding how your location data moves through the world, and taking steps to limit it, is no longer just advice for the privacy-conscious. It is a reasonable response to documented government behavior. You can [learn more about how a VPN protects your data and IP address](internal link) and why it matters beyond just hiding your browsing history.
hide.me VPN is available across all your devices and does not log your activity. If limiting your exposure to warrantless data collection is a priority, it is a straightforward place to start.