Source: https://apnews.com/article/atf-surveillance-wyden-cloud-566f702fe6082310d6b7c64e5b2de009
Publisher: Associated Press (Byron Tau, Alanna Durkin Richer)
Date Published: June 26, 2026
Relevant To: Federal ad-tech/data-broker location data purchasing; Sen. Wyden bipartisan legislation
Verification Status: Verified — AP Link Blocked, Confirmed via Wire Syndication
Notes: AP News link itself was blocked for direct fetch; confirmed via extensive AP wire syndication (ABC News, WRAL, Washington Times, WGAU) all carrying the identical AP report by Byron Tau and Alanna Durkin Richer. ATF canceled its contract for “Webloc,” a warrantless mobile-device location-tracking tool made by Penlink (Webloc originated with an Israeli company called Cobwebs before merging into Penlink), after Rep. Michael Cloud (R-TX) and Sen. Ron Wyden (D-OR) raised concerns. ATF Director Robert Cekada acknowledged under Cloud’s questioning at a May 2026 hearing that ATF had been buying bulk geolocation data on American cellphones via ad-tech/data-broker sourcing — circumventing warrant requirements. Wyden and Cloud’s offices learned ATF conducted 300+ warrantless searches using the tool, 200+ tied to active cases. In one case (suspected arson at a US defense contractor facility), a prosecutor and judge both raised legality concerns, forcing ATF to obtain a traditional court order for bulk cell-tower data instead. Penlink issued a statement defending its “long-standing relationship” with ATF and said it looks forward to continuing it. A bipartisan bill (Wyden, Sen. Mike Lee R-UT, Rep. Warren Davidson R-OH, Rep. Zoe Lofgren D-CA) would ban buying such data without a judicial order — worth tracking as potential federal legislation relevant to BPA’s data broker work. Strong federal-level companion piece to BPA’s existing data-broker/risk-intelligence-platform research; Sen. Wyden (OR) is already a known BPA legislative contact.