It is a fun loophole I guess. The government probably can’t legally collect this data itself but it is perfectly fine if someone else does it and they just buy it from the data broker.

DEADBEEF

I don't recall where I read about it, but they definitely buy this data like everyone else. It's not spying if it's publicly available I guess.

k00b

conspiracy

Heritage Foundation uses ad broker data to track movements of Trump's assassin

It is amazing (and horrifying and creepy) that all this data is out there for anyone to get at (if they are willing to pay). I think this kind of policing is exactly why the government won’t pass laws to protect people’s privacy online. They want the data for the FBI, NSA, CIA, etc.