The CDC reportedly monitored the location data of millions of phones

CDC logo displayed on smartphone screen
(Image credit: Omar Marques/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images)

Documents obtained by Vice News' Motherboard reveal that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention purchased access to the phone data of millions of Americans, and not just for COVID-19 tracking.

The CDC reportedly paid "highly controversial data broker" SafeGraph $420,000 last year for access to one year worth of cell phone location data. The documents "show that although the CDC used COVID-19 as a reason to buy access to the data more quickly, it intended to use it for more general CDC purposes," writes Vice.

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Anahi Valenzuela, The Week US

Anahi Valenzuela has worked as an editorial assistant at The Week since 2022, where she assists with magazine content and covers the week's best photos. She started her career as a media producer at The Daily Californian and a writer for College Magazine.