BrianKrebsOct 23, 2024

I thought I understood the extent to which the broad availability of mobile location data has exacerbated countless privacy and security challenges. That is, until I was invited along with four other publications to be a virtual observer in a 2-week test run of Babel Street, a service that lets users draw a digital polygon around nearly any location on a map of the world, and view a time-lapse history of the mobile devices seen coming in and out of the area.

The issue isn't that there's some dodgy company offering this as a poorly-vetted service: It's that *anyone* willing to spend a little money can now build this capability themselves.

I'll be updating this story with links to reporting from other publications also invited, including 404 Media, Haaretz, NOTUS, and The New York Times. All of these stories will make clear that mobile location data is set to massively complicate several hot-button issues, from the tracking of suspected illegal immigrants or women seeking abortions, to harassing public servants who are already in the crosshairs over baseless conspiracy theories and increasingly hostile political rhetoric against government employees.

https://krebsonsecurity.com/2024/10/the-global-surveillance-free-for-all-in-mobile-ad-data/

The Global Surveillance Free-for-All in Mobile Ad Data – Krebs on Security

Show threadBrianKrebs

Other reporting on this:

404 Media's take: https://www.404media.co/inside-the-u-s-government-bought-tool-that-can-track-phones-at-abortion-clinics/

NOTUS: https://www.notus.org/technology/cell-phone-tracking-law-enforcement-abortion-clinic

Haaretz (English version should be available in a few hours): https://www.haaretz.co.il/news/security/2024-10-23/ty-article-magazine/.premium/00000192-b90c-dc97-a593-f96f50800000

Not sure when the NYT will be publishing. My impression was they were planning to cover the regulatory side of this in detail.

Inside the U.S. Government-Bought Tool That Can Track Phones at Abortion Clinics

Privacy advocates gained access to a powerful tool bought by U.S. law enforcement agencies that can track smartphone locations around the world. Abortion clinics, places of worship, and individual people can all be monitored without a warrant.

404 Media
Oct 23, 2024 at 12:03pmWeb
Show threadBrianKrebsOct 23, 2024

From the story:

"Georgetown Law's Justin Sherman said the data broker and mobile ad industries claim there are protections in place to anonymize mobile location data and restrict access to it, and that there are limits to the kinds of invasive inferences one can make from location data. The data broker industry also likes to tout the usefulness of mobile location data in fighting retail fraud, he said.

"All kinds of things can be inferred from this data, including people being targeted by abusers, or people with a particular health condition or religious belief," Sherman said. "You can track jurors, law enforcement officers visiting the homes of suspects, or military intelligence people meeting with their contacts. The notion that the sale of all this data is preventing harm and fraud is hilarious in light of all the harm it causes enabling people to better target their cyber operations, or learning about people's extramarital affairs and extorting public officials."

Show threadKarl AuerbachOct 23, 2024
@briankrebs And when assertions are made about the safety of anonymous or anonymized data sets one should think back to Lance Hoffman's piece in the 1970s about "Extracting Personal Information From An Anonymous Database" (or similar title.) (I would give a citation, but I can't find it online.)
Show threadFritz AdalisOct 23, 2024
@briankrebs
NYT is probably figuring out spin on how it hurts Biden's reelection chances.
Show threadgregg rOct 23, 2024
@briankrebs @pluralistic This feels exactly like something Masha and Zoth would have done.
Show threadBrokarOct 23, 2024

@briankrebs The government simply can get all the data from Google. They've been collecting that data for years with everyones consent.

So maybe this is an opportunity to finally get the people to wake up and see that the statement "i don't care, they can have my data, i've got nothing to hide" can one day bite you in the ass and you don't even know it yet.

EFF and everybody else was warning about this for like forever.

So if you want an abortion or do other crime, leave you phone at home.

Show threadLed By Gilded FoolsOct 24, 2024
@briankrebs ICYMI You are also cited in this ArsTechnica article https://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2024/10/phone-tracking-tool-lets-government-agencies-follow-your-every-move/
Location tracking of phones is out of control. Here’s how to fight back.

Unique IDs assigned to Android and iOS devices threaten your privacy. Who knew?

Ars Technica