The National Security Agency experimented with a cell phone location tracking program in 2010, but eventually shelved the idea. Director of National Intelligence, James Clapper, declassified the program during a senate testimony today on Capitol Hill.
The NSA has repeatedly denied that it tracks Americans’ locations, but its secret documents reveal that GPS data is used to create a network of suspects tied to Americans.
“After years of stonewalling on whether the government has ever tracked or planned to track the location of law-abiding Americans through their cellphones, once again, the intelligence leadership has decided to leave most of the real story secret — even when the truth would not compromise national security,” Said Senator Ron Wyden.
Wyden has spearheaded a surveillance reform package that could actually pass, but will have to wait for President Obama’s NSA task force to issue its recommendations.