FBI chief Christopher Wray revealed during a Senate hearing that the bureau had in the past purchased sensitive location data rather than obtaining a warrant. This prompted concerns among privacy advocates, though Wray indicated that it was not currently the practice to do so and that there were no current plans to do it again. Still, concerns are that without federal privacy legislation, this and other agencies’ practices encroaching on individual privacy may happen without public knowledge.

In fact, in a 1,000-person survey conducted by MessageGears of individuals who reported making an online purchase at least once per month on average – nearly 60% ranked keeping their data secure the top priority, whereas personalized digital messages came in as least important.