Politics

Your phone is a sleeper agent for stalkers and fundamentalist politicians

Published

2 years ago

November 11, 2024

Your phone is a sleeper agent for stalkers and fundamentalist politicians

For years, data brokers have abused Americans’ most personal data in every way possible, selling people’s identifying information to businesses, other individuals and even governments. Now, a string of news stories underscore how the industry’s practices are increasingly endangering women’s safety.

Data brokers are selling the ability to track phones that visit abortion clinics and follow them back across state lines, all the way to their owners’ homes. All it takes for this kind of 24-hour surveillance is a credit card. Given the creepy enthusiasm with which MAGA government officials are inserting themselves into women’s health choices, these tracking tools present a pressing danger for women across the country.

Again and again, MAGA politicians show that they will go to shameful lengths to control women’s bodies.

According to reports by multiple news organizations last week, the data broker Babel Street allowed a private investigator to use its Locate X tool to zero in on abortion clinics and other sensitive locations. While Babel Street advertises its tool as being for government use, in practice this private investigator received a weeklong trial subscription, apparently without any vetting whatsoever.

I’ve spent years probing data broker malfeasance, and unfortunately this news wasn’t surprising. My investigations found that wireless companies let data brokers sell Americans’ location information to bounty hunters, corrupt law enforcement officials and nearly anyone with a credit card. Earlier this year, I revealed that data brokers helped anti-abortion activists send targeted misinformation about abortion to patients at 600 Planned Parenthood clinics across the country. I discovered that automakers sold drivers’ location data and other records to data brokers for pennies. And I successfully pushed utility companies to end their practice of giving away their customers’ personal information to data brokers.

Again and again, MAGA politicians show that they will go to shameful lengths to control women’s bodies. Since the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, Republicans have moved mountains to restrict the constitutional rights and freedoms of women, making it impossible for many women to live their lives free from government intrusion. They won’t rest until there’s a politician in every bedroom and exam room in America.

But Americans shouldn’t accept a reality where their phones are sleeper agents for stalkers and fundamentalist politicians to track women across the country. Here’s how we can fight back.

First, anyone who cares about women’s rights needs to make themselves heard and vote for candidates who have a track record of protecting those rights. The Dobbs decision to overturn women’s right to choose was the culmination of a decadeslong far-right movement to take over the nation’s courts. Democrats need to respond with the same amount of determination, which is why I introduced the Judicial Modernization and Transparency Act to reform the court system and ensure our judges better represent American values.

When it comes to violations of Americans’ privacy, our country has reached a crisis point.

Second, the executive branch should use the powers it already has to crack down on data brokers’ sleazy behavior. At my urging, the Federal Trade Commission has already started to go after some data brokers that sold location data collected from Americans’ without their consent. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is expected to announce its own regulations in the near future to extend financial privacy rules to the industry.

States can also act to protect their residents. Starting in 2026, Californians will be able to sign up for a new data broker registry, where with a single click they can require the brokers to delete their data and stop selling it in the future. The law that created that new privacy control, which will put tens of millions of Americans back in control of their own personal data, was modeled after legislation I wrote. I encourage other states to follow California’s lead.

Third, Congress needs to finally breach the corporate barricade that has blocked a strong consumer privacy law. I’ve authored my own strong privacy bills, the Mind Your Own Business Act and the Banning Surveillance Advertising Act. And in the coming months I plan to release two new bills: one that will protect Americans’ privacy by limiting how much data websites and apps can collect on Americans and preventing data brokers from amassing and selling that data, and another that will protect Americans from being spied on by their smart TVs and set-top boxes and having that data given away or sold to data brokers.

Finally, it’s notable that the vast majority of the phones tracked by Babel Street’s Locate X tool used Google’s Android operating system. Though Apple changed its privacy settings in 2021 to make it far easier for users to stop apps from hoovering up and selling their personal information, Google has failed to do the same. As a result, people who use Android phones are far more vulnerable to surveillance than people who use iPhones. It doesn’t take a genius to understand why the largest online advertising company in the world does not want to make it easy for users to stop tracking by advertising companies and their data broker partners. Google could act immediately to limit data broker access to location information and cut this slimy industry off at the source.

When it comes to violations of Americans’ privacy, our country has reached a crisis point. The repeal of Roe has only heightened the stakes for women who want to make health decisions without a politician in their doctor’s office or a stalker watching their phone. The good news is, there’s no mystery about how to solve this problem. There’s a clear path forward for protecting our privacy and safety that Americans should insist on from our government.

Sen. Ron Wyden

Ron Wyden, Oregon’s senior U.S. senator, is a senior member of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence.

Politics

Trump-backed Jay Feely wins GOP primary in Arizona’s battleground 1st District

Published

16 minutes ago

July 22, 2026

Blue Light Newsroom

Former Arizona Cardinals kicker Jay Feely cruised to victory in Arizona’s 1st District on Tuesday, one of the nation’s most competitive battlegrounds.

Feely, a close ally of President Donald Trump, leveraged Trump’s endorsement to topple former state Rep. Joseph Chaplik.

He’ll face a steep challenge defeating the Democratic nominee in November: The 1st District, which spans the affluent suburbs north of Phoenix, is one of House Democrats’ top targets after Trump won it by just three points in 2024. Feely is looking to keep the seat under GOP control amid a midterm year that presents major headwinds for the party.

Politics

Rep. Andy Biggs wins GOP primary for Arizona governor

Published

16 minutes ago

July 22, 2026

Blue Light Newsroom

Trump-endorsed Rep. Andy Biggs has won the GOP primary to face Democratic Gov. Katie Hobbs in November, setting up a marquee governor’s race in one of America’s most competitive states.

Biggs, a former chair of the hardline House Freedom Caucus and a close ally of President Donald Trump, easily dealt with his only serious challenger, Rep. David Schweikert, on Tuesday. Before the primary results were official, he had already begun pivoting to the general election against Hobbs, who is seen as one of the most vulnerable Democratic governors this fall.

Republicans feel bullish about their odds of flipping the governorship, after Trump carried the state by five points in 2024. But even though Trump won last time, the state has gradually shifted to pure tossup territory over the past few years, electing Democrats to both Senate seats, as well as the attorney general and secretary of state’s offices.

Hobbs had already shifted her focus to Biggs as well. Her campaign has amassed a significant warchest for the race and has already started running ads. Biggs, given his lack of a significant primary challenge, has been able to hold onto more cash than his GOP rivals, but is still behind Hobbs.

The race will test whether Republicans, who are starting down a potentially bruising midterm cycle, can reclaim the top office of a state that has long been a place of success for the party.

During the Republican primary debate, Biggs spent more time talking about his working relationship with House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries and Arizona Democratic Sen. Mark Kelly than he did flexing his endorsement from Trump or highlighting his House record, including his time atop the Freedom Caucus. Instead, he tried to refocus on his bipartisanship in Congress and his leadership in the state legislature.

“I know how to reach across the aisle,” Biggs said during the debate.

But he will still have to contend with many of his past stances, including his role in trying to overturn the 2020 election.

And Hobbs is already working to ensure voters know where Biggs stands on key issues as a longtime member of the House, including his anti-abortion positions and his role in 2020. Her campaign has repeatedly attacked him as “too extreme” for the state and has dubbed him “basement Biggs” for keeping a relatively low profile throughout the GOP primary.

Politics

Trump-backed Mark Lamb wins Arizona House primary despite sex scandals

Published

16 minutes ago

July 22, 2026

Blue Light Newsroom

A scandal-plagued House candidate powered by President Donald Trump’s endorsement won a messy primary Tuesday.

Mark Lamb, the former Pinal County sheriff, overcame a late push from self-funding candidate Daniel Keenan in Arizona’s 5th District. Lamb will enter November as the heavy frontrunner in the deep-red Phoenix-area district to replace Rep. Andy Biggs (R-Ariz.), who is running for governor.

Keenan had poured nearly $2 million of his own cash into the campaign and attempted to make Lamb’s alleged sexual misconduct and abuse of power central to the race. Lamb has denied the allegations.

But Lamb — bolstered by Trump and Arizona-based Turning Point USA — managed to ward off the attacks.

The race’s outcome reveals the strength of Trump’s endorsement, and it’s the latest example of how willing GOP primary voters have been to accept scandal-ridden candidates favored by the president.

Lamb, who served as sheriff until 2024, earned national notoriety as a gun-toting critic of the Biden administration’s immigration and border policy. He secured Trump’s backing for the 5th District contest last year.

Then in May, the Arizona Republic launched a multi-part investigation alleging that Lamb engaged in a yearslong pattern of sending sexual images and instigating intimate encounters between him, his wife and others. One woman involved, Jillian Stannard, accused Lamb of encouraging her husband to have sex with other women, including Lamb’s wife. She also alleged that Lamb threatened her, saying there would be consequences, when Stannard raised concerns to religious leaders.

Screenshots the Republic obtained of messages with another woman, Tammy Peacock, suggest Lamb — then a sitting county sheriff — threatened to leverage Arizona’s revenge porn law against her.

In a statement last week, Lamb spokesperson Ed Morabito told Blue Light News that “these allegations are false and come from long-discredited political opponents.”

Lamb did not lose any significant endorsements in the wake of the scandals — Trump reinforced his endorsement in mid-July — even as Keenan made the allegations central to his campaign.