The Global Surveillance Free-for-All in Mobile Ad Data
Atlas Data Privacy Corp. helps its users remove their personal information from the clutches of consumer data brokers. Atlas has sued 151 consumer data brokers on behalf of New Jersey law enforcement officers whose information should have been completely removed from commercial data brokers.One defendant, Babel Street, allows customers to draw a digital polygon around nearly any location on a map of the world, and view a history of the mobile devices seen coming in and out of the specified area. Using a trial version of it, an investigator was able to track visitors to a mosque and employees at an abortion clinic, as well as law enforcement officers.
How is the data collected? Location data also is shared when a smartphone visits a web page with ads. In the few milliseconds before those ads load, the website will send a “bid request” to various ad exchanges, where advertisers can bid on the chance to place their ad in front of users who match the consumer profiles they’re seeking. That bid request contains location data and it's broadcast in the clear to hundreds of entities around the world.
Data brokers can locate roughly 80 percent of Android-based devices, and about 25 percent of Apple phones. The difference comes from Apple's App Tracking Transparency (ATT) that requires apps to get affirmative consent before they can track users.
Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) said Congress’ failure to regulate data brokers, and the administration’s continued opposition to bipartisan legislation that would limit data sales to law enforcement, have created this current privacy crisis.
Phone users can disable this tracking--instructions are at the end of the article.
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