Senate Democrats Request IG Probe of DHS Warrantless Phone Tracking

The Department of Homeland Security inspector general should investigate Customs and Border Protection “warrantless tracking of phones” in the U.S. (see 2009240051), Senate Democrats wrote Friday. “CBP is not above the law and it should not be able to buy its way around the Fourth Amendment,” wrote Ron Wyden, Ore.; Elizabeth Warren, Mass.; Sherrod Brown, Ohio; Ed Markey, Mass.; and Brian Schatz, Hawaii. Citing public contracts, they said CBP “paid a government contractor named Venntel nearly half a million dollars for access to a commercial database containing location data mined from applications on millions of Americans’ mobile phones.” DHS didn’t comment.