The same industry also sells that data, including bulk cell phone location data, to police departments and federal government agencies in ways that can reveal intimate details about Americans without a warrant.
Asif Merchant wants EDNY to provide all the spying the FBI did targeting him - or at least the spying that they say matches the calls he made while they were surveilling him. As you'll recall, Merchant is the Pakistani guy that EDNY arrested in July 2024 for allegedly soliciting someone to kill political targets, possibly including Donald Trump. Since then, Merchant has been sitting in prison, under communication restrictions, awaiting trial, which is currently scheduled for February 23, 2026.
In 2024, U.S. intelligence agencies significantly increased their use of search terms to query communications of U.S. persons, igniting privacy concerns and calls for reform.
