RolledLow ☞
1/🧵An internal DHS document obtained by 404 Media shows for the first time CBP used location data sourced from the online advertising industry to track phone locations. ICE has bought access to similar tools. #WeThePeople are #TheResistance 🗽 www.404media.co/cbp-tapped-i...

CBP Tapped Into the Online Adv...
CBP Tapped Into the Online Advertising Ecosystem To Track Peoples’ Movements

An internal DHS document obtained by 404 Media shows for the first time CBP used location data sourced from the online advertising industry to track phone locations. ICE has bought access to similar tools.

404 Media
Mar 8 at 3:14pmWeb
Show threadRolledLow ☞Mar 8
2/ “CBP bought data from the online advertising ecosystem to track peoples’ precise movements over time, […] from ordinary apps like video games, dating services, and fitness trackers, according to an internal Department of Homeland Security (DHS) document obtained by 404 Media.”
Show threadRolledLow ☞Mar 8
3/ When ads are “displayed inside an app, a near instantaneous bidding process happens […]. A side effect of this is that surveillance firms, or rogue advertising companies working on their behalf, can observe this process and siphon information about mobile phones, including their location.
Show threadRolledLow ☞Mar 8
4/ “In many cases, the app developers themselves are likely unaware they are acting as a conduit for government surveillance because the data collection is not based on any code the app creators have included themselves.”
Show threadRolledLow ☞Mar 8
4/ “in the 2010s, Apple and Google created Advertising IDs, or AdIDs, that are assigned to each device. These are unique identifiers that, although they don’t contain a person’s phone number or name, still provide a way for the online advertising industry to track devices.”
Show threadRolledLow ☞Mar 8
5/ “… ban the government from buying our data and ban tech companies from using surveillance advertising. Until then, [people can] install ad blockers, disable their phone's advertising ID, and enable the Global Privacy Control in their browser, which 12 states now enforce”