WASHINGTON (AP) 鈥� The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives canceled its contract for a tool that enables warrantless tracking of mobile devices after lawmakers, a prosecutor and a judge raised concerns about the legality of the tool in criminal investigations.
ATF, the federal agency responsible for enforcing the nation鈥檚 gun laws, told The Associated Press that it discontinued what it called a 鈥減ilot鈥� program using a tool called Webloc after Rep. Michael Cloud, a Republican from Texas, and Sen. Ron Wyden, a Democrat from Oregon, expressed reservations about the agency’s use of bulk commercial location data.
Webloc, which is made by a vendor called Penlink, sources data from consumer apps and advertising networks, which collect the location of mobile devices from consumers who download apps or browse the web. Such data is sometimes called 鈥渁d tech鈥� and as it allows agencies to bypass warrant requirements to identify the mobile devices present in certain areas at specific times.
The U.S. Supreme Court ruled in 2018 that police needed a warrant to obtain historic movement data from cellphone companies on a criminal suspect. But it has never addressed the growing practice of commercially acquired data.
Other users of Webloc include the U.S. military and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement but also local law enforcement agencies such as police in places like Elk Grove, Calif. and Durham, N.C. The technology has also expanded around the world, with the national police in El Salvador and Hungarian intelligence agencies as customers, according to a report from earlier this year a group of researchers at the University of Toronto who investigate digital threats to civil society.
鈥淎 victory for Americans鈥� constitutional rights鈥�
ATF said in a statement that it determined that the tool 鈥渄oes not meet our needs.鈥� The agency said it is not using any other ad-tech-sourced services.
鈥淎TF continually evaluates tools and techniques to enhance our investigations and ultimately reduce violent crime in American communities. We did conduct a pilot with Webloc to determine if it could improve our investigative capabilities,鈥� an ATF spokesperson said in an email.
Wyden called ATF鈥檚 decision to abandon the software 鈥渁 victory for Americans鈥� constitutional rights.鈥�
鈥淔or years, I have warned that the government鈥檚 purchase of Americans鈥� location data from shady data brokers is an unacceptable end-run around the Fourth Amendment,鈥� Wyden said in a statement. After Rep. Cloud and my staff informed the ATF about the legal and privacy quagmire surrounding adtech data, the agency did the right thing.鈥�
Under questioning from Cloud, ATF Director Robert Cekada acknowledged in a congressional hearing in May that the agency had been buying geolocation data on American cell phones.
After the hearing, Wyden and Cloud鈥檚 office were briefed by ATF. In a joint press release, the two lawmakers said they learned ATF had conducted more than 300 warrantless searches using the tool 鈥� including more than 200 tied to active ATF cases.
In one instance involving suspected arson at a facility belonging to a U.S. defense contractor, both a prosecutor and a judge expressed concerns about the use of Webloc ad tech data, according to the two lawmakers. The agency 鈥渨as ultimately forced to backtrack and obtain a traditional court order for bulk cellphone tower data鈥� from cell carriers instead, Wyden and Cloud said in a release.
Webloc was originally made by an Israeli company called Cobwebs before it was bought and merged with a U.S. company called Penlink.
Penlink said in a statement that it is 鈥減roud to have a long-standing relationship with ATF that has enabled us to support its mission to protect America鈥檚 communities from violent crime involving the illegal use of firearms, explosives and arson.鈥� The company added that it 鈥渓ooks forward to continuing our relationship in support of that mission.鈥�
Practice continues in other government agencies
Other law enforcement agencies, including the FBI and the Department of Homeland Security continue to buy commercial geolocation data.
DHS issued a request for information to private industry in January asking about how commercially available advertising data might be used to assist in its deportation and law enforcement mission. And earlier this year, FBI director Kash Patel told the Senate: 鈥淲e do purchase commercially available information that鈥檚 consistent with the constitution and the laws under the Electronic Communications Privacy Act, and it has led to some valuable intelligence for us.鈥�
A bipartisan group of lawmakers, including Wyden, Republican Sen. Mike Lee of Utah, Republican Rep. Warren Davidson of Ohio, and Democratic Rep. Zoe Lofgren of California, have introduced a bill that would ban the practice of buying data without a judicial order.
Copyright © 2026 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, written or redistributed.
