ACLU v. Department of Homeland Security (commercial location data FOIA)
What's at Stake
In December 2020, the ACLU and NYCLU filed a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit seeking records from Customs and Border Protection (CBP), Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE), and other parts of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) about their practice of purchasing cell phone location data collected from smartphone apps.
Summary
Without users realizing it, apps regularly sell users’ location information to other, third-party companies like Venntel and Babel Street, who use it for marketing and other purposes. These third-party companies then compile and market the data to government agencies.
In 2018, the Supreme Court ruled in Carpenter v. United States that the government needs a warrant to obtain cell phone location information from people’s cellular service providers due to the “near perfect surveillance” such information provides. Our FOIA lawsuit seeks information about how the government justifies its end run around the Supreme Court’s Fourth Amendment ruling, how it uses the location records, and what controls are in place to protect Americans’ privacy.
Legal Documents
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02/10/2020
Commercial Location Data FOIA Request -
12/03/2020
Complaint — Commercial Location Data FOIA -
01/27/2021
Defendants' Answer — Commercial Location Data FOIA
Date Filed: 02/10/2020
Court: District Court (S.D.N.Y.) FOIA litigation documents
Affiliate: New York
Download DocumentDate Filed: 12/03/2020
Court: District Court (S.D.N.Y.) FOIA litigation documents
Affiliate: New York
Download DocumentDate Filed: 01/27/2021
Court: District Court (S.D.N.Y.) FOIA litigation documents
Affiliate: New York
Download Document-
Documents Produced by Customs & Border Protection (CBP) -
01/01/2022
CBP's First Production -
01/01/2022
CBP's Second Production -
01/01/2022
CBP's Third Production -
01/01/2022
CBP's Fourth Production -
01/01/2022
CBP's Fifth Production -
01/05/2022
Venntel Spreadsheet (1) -
01/05/2022
Venntel Spreadsheet (2-a) -
01/05/2022
Venntel Spreadsheet (2-b) -
01/05/2022
Venntel Spreadsheet (2-c) -
01/05/2022
Venntel Spreadsheet (3-a) -
01/05/2022
Venntel Spreadsheet (3-b) -
01/05/2022
Venntel Spreadsheet (4) -
01/05/2022
Venntel Spreadsheet (5) -
01/05/2022
Venntel Spreadsheet (6) -
01/05/2022
Venntel Spreadsheet (7)
Date Filed: 01/01/2022
Affiliate: New York
Download DocumentDate Filed: 01/01/2022
Affiliate: New York
Download DocumentDate Filed: 01/01/2022
Affiliate: New York
Download DocumentDate Filed: 01/01/2022
Affiliate: New York
Download DocumentDate Filed: 01/01/2022
Affiliate: New York
Download DocumentDate Filed: 01/05/2022
Affiliate: New York
Download DocumentDate Filed: 01/05/2022
Affiliate: New York
Download DocumentDate Filed: 01/05/2022
Affiliate: New York
Download DocumentDate Filed: 01/05/2022
Affiliate: New York
Download DocumentDate Filed: 01/05/2022
Affiliate: New York
Download DocumentDate Filed: 01/05/2022
Affiliate: New York
Download DocumentDate Filed: 01/05/2022
Affiliate: New York
Download DocumentDate Filed: 01/05/2022
Affiliate: New York
Download DocumentDate Filed: 01/05/2022
Affiliate: New York
Download DocumentDate Filed: 01/05/2022
Affiliate: New York
Download Document-
Documents Produced by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) -
08/01/2021
DHS Headquarters' August 2021 Production -
09/02/2021
DHS Headquarters' September 2021 Production -
04/01/2022
DHS Headquarters' April 2022 Production -
06/01/2022
DHS Headquarters' June 2022 Production -
08/01/2021
Office for Civil Rights & Liberties' August 2021 Production -
09/01/2021
Office for Civil Rights & Liberties' September 2021 Production -
05/01/2021
Science & Technology Directorate's June 2021 Production -
12/01/2021
Science & Technology Directorate's December 2021 Production -
07/15/2022
Science & Technology Directorate's January 2022 Production -
05/01/2022
Science & Technology Directorate's May 2022 Interim Response
Date Filed: 08/01/2021
Affiliate: New York
Download DocumentDate Filed: 09/02/2021
Affiliate: New York
Download DocumentDate Filed: 04/01/2022
Affiliate: New York
Download DocumentDate Filed: 06/01/2022
Affiliate: New York
Download DocumentDate Filed: 08/01/2021
Affiliate: New York
Download DocumentDate Filed: 09/01/2021
Affiliate: New York
Download DocumentDate Filed: 05/01/2021
Affiliate: New York
Download DocumentDate Filed: 12/01/2021
Affiliate: New York
Download DocumentDate Filed: 07/15/2022
Affiliate: New York
Download DocumentDate Filed: 05/01/2022
Affiliate: New York
Download Document-
Documents Produced by Immigration & Customs Enforcement (ICE) -
05/01/2021
ICE's May 2021 Production -
06/01/2021
ICE's June 2021 Production -
07/01/2021
ICE's July 2021 Production (1) -
07/31/2021
ICE's July 2021 Production (2) -
09/01/2021
ICE's September 2021 Production -
12/01/2021
ICE's December 2021 Production -
01/01/2022
ICE's January 2022 Production -
02/01/2022
ICE's February 2022 Production -
03/01/2022
ICE's March 2022 Production -
04/02/2022
ICE's April 2022 Production -
05/01/2022
ICE's May 2022 Production -
06/01/2022
ICE's June 2022 Production
Date Filed: 05/01/2021
Affiliate: New York
Download DocumentDate Filed: 06/01/2021
Affiliate: New York
Download DocumentDate Filed: 07/01/2021
Affiliate: New York
Download DocumentDate Filed: 07/31/2021
Affiliate: New York
Download DocumentDate Filed: 09/01/2021
Affiliate: New York
Download DocumentDate Filed: 12/01/2021
Affiliate: New York
Download DocumentDate Filed: 01/01/2022
Affiliate: New York
Download DocumentDate Filed: 02/01/2022
Affiliate: New York
Download DocumentDate Filed: 03/01/2022
Affiliate: New York
Download DocumentDate Filed: 04/02/2022
Affiliate: New York
Download DocumentDate Filed: 05/01/2022
Affiliate: New York
Download DocumentDate Filed: 06/01/2022
Affiliate: New York
Download Document-
Documents Produced by the Department of Justice (DOJ) Criminal Division -
11/01/2021
DOJ's November 2021 Production
Date Filed: 11/01/2021
Affiliate: New York
Download Document-
Documents Produced by the U.S. Coast Guard (USCG) -
11/01/2021
USCG's November 2021 Production (1) -
11/01/2021
USCG's November 2021 Production (2)
Date Filed: 11/01/2021
Affiliate: New York
Download DocumentDate Filed: 11/01/2021
Affiliate: New York
Download Document-
Documents Produced by the Secret Service -
06/01/2022
Secret Service June 2022 Production
Date Filed: 06/01/2022
Affiliate: New York
Download DocumentPress Releases
New Records Detail DHS Purchase and Use of Vast Quantities of Cell Phone Location Data