Anthropic PBC’s clash with the Pentagon is drawing fresh attention to a lightly regulated practice: the US government’s purchase of commercially available information, such as browsing histories and location data, and the growing use of artificial intelligence to analyze it at scale.
US agencies, including the Defense Department, have purchased data from brokers who repackage information from advertising marketplaces and other commercial tracking systems, including internet browsing and location data, according to government officials. It’s a tactic that can allow the government to collect valuable intelligence about foreign adversaries, terrorists and criminals.
But critics, including civil rights groups ...
