{"id":29934,"date":"2020-08-28T15:41:39","date_gmt":"2020-08-28T19:41:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mjtsai.com\/blog\/?p=29934"},"modified":"2020-11-27T13:30:15","modified_gmt":"2020-11-27T18:30:15","slug":"governments-buying-phone-location-data","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mjtsai.com\/blog\/2020\/08\/28\/governments-buying-phone-location-data\/","title":{"rendered":"Governments Buying Phone Location Data"},"content":{"rendered":"

Joseph Cox<\/a>:<\/p>\n

In March, tech publication Protocol reported<\/a> that multiple government agencies signed millions of dollars worth of deals with Babel Street after the company launched its Locate X product. Multiple sources told the site that Locate X tracks the location of devices anonymously, using data harvested by popular apps installed on peoples’ phones.<\/p>

[…]<\/p>

A myriad of smartphone apps<\/a>, from weather predictors, to games, to flashlights, collect location data. Sometimes this may provide some benefit to the app’s operation itself, such as being able to route directions from a users’ current location, but many of these apps often sell that information as well to data brokers or other companies who incorporate it into their own products.<\/p>

[…]<\/p>

Many agencies have filed so-called reverse location warrants to ask Google to hand over information<\/a> on what Android devices were in a particular area at a given time, for example. But an agency does not need to seek a warrant when it simply buys the data instead.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n

Daniel Sinclair<\/a>:<\/p>\n

Apple needs to open up telemetry to give users control & purview, as well as attack the problem from the other side by creating a separate app review process for SDKs that demands code review and data audits.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n

I don’t know exactly how this would work, but it’s a real problem that users have no visibility or control over what happens to their data. Some apps legitimately need location access, and once that’s granted there’s little that can be done to protect you.<\/p>\n\n

Via Dan Grover<\/a>:<\/p>\n

If Apple’s strength is being a walled garden, we might as well demand better walls.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n

Previously:<\/p>\n