In 2025, 33 data brokers registered in California disclosed to the state that they had sold Americans' personal data to buyers in North Korea, China, Russia, or Iran. Five of those companies sold precise geolocation data - the kind that reveals where someone sleeps, works, prays, or spends their evenings.
This didn't come from a leak or an investigation. It came from a public, government-mandated registry. These companies disclosed it because California law said they had to.
The supply chain behind it is mundane and almost entirely legal. A weather app on your phone collects your location. The developer sells that data to a broker. The broker packages it into a searchable database and sells access to anyone willing to pay - including foreign governments, usually without a warrant and without notifying you.
The U.S. government runs on the same pipeline. In February, DHS signed a $1 billion contract with Palantir to roll out AI-powered analytics across its agencies. ICE operates tools capable of reconstructing the movement history of any given phone. When asked directly in a Senate hearing earlier this year, the FBI wouldn't commit to not purchasing Americans' location data.
Most people picture the modern privacy threat as a hacker forcing their way in. The reality is far more ordinary - and far harder to fight. It's a spreadsheet, sold legally, to whoever shows up with a credit card.
Stay protected,
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1May 3, 2026 4.1K
