Not always about illegal shit.
Local upstart gaining too much traction at the polls with irrelevant shit like doing what the peons want them to? Have an intern track his movements through the AP access logs and find a pattern to exploit. Take a cameraman, and an actor, and Oh My Gosh, is that your opponent groping random busty pedestrians on 42 avenue?
Yeah it's all possible without the APs, but this would be cheaper and easier. Doesn't require hiring a person to shadow them, someone who could make a mistake, get caught, or confess. And the location search is easily passed off as an effective tool for catching pedophile kidnappers.