New legal documents have revealed the United States government’s alarming utilization of an obscure law that, while over 200-years-old, can still force companies specializing in travel logistics data to provide law enforcement with certain individuals’ global movements. According to information first uncovered by Forbes, U.S. officials were legally able to compel both the stateside-based Sabre and the U.K.’s Travelport into tracking the whereabouts of a wanted Russian hacker responsible for orchestrating the 2015 theft of $20 million in credit card funds.
For months, Sabre and Travelport were required to provide U.S. Secret Service officials with weekly reports regarding the movements of Aleksei Burkov that culminated in his apprehension by Israeli authorities while on vacation in the country later that year. Although it only took a few months to arrest Burkov, Forbes notes that the legal order could have lasted at least another two years, if necessary.
