FBI asked Google for data on all users within crime scene area

The FBI asked Google for data on users who, within a period of time, were in an area of ​​about half a square kilometer around various places where robberies have taken place. Google has not provided any data so far.

Forbes writes on the basis of court documents that the data was part of an investigation into nine robberies in the city of Portland, in the US state of Maine. In the context of at least two of those robberies, the FBI wanted data on all users within a certain distance of the robberies over a thirty-minute period. According to the site, the total area covers an area of ​​approximately 0.45km².

The investigation service concerned data such as full name and address, activity of the Google account and location history. Forbes writes that this “unheard of request” basically applied to all Android and iOS users in the affected area. The FBI would have waited a total of five months for the data, but Google has not yet come up with the data.

A lawyer tells Forbes that the request, which has been approved by a judge, amounts to “a completely arbitrary search of a large group of people.” A lawyer from the civil rights organization ACLU explains to the site that these types of requests, referred to as reverse location warrants, are normally sent to telecom providers. It would also be the first time that the FBI has used this opportunity. The lawyer says, “This is an old school investigative technique, but an entirely new competence.”

Ultimately, the FBI managed to arrest someone on the basis of shoe sole prints in combination with DNA from an abandoned shoe. The research service also obtained telephone data, although according to Forbes it is not clear where they came from. Google recently made headlines after the Associated Press found in an investigation that the company collects user location data, even though they disabled this feature.