They can be used for advertising but also for espionage - our personal data collected by apps that are then sold.
The data reveals intimate details about a person who works in a senior position for the federal government: where his home is, what time he leaves for work, which offices he travels to and from, and that on certain days he enters and leaves the Bundestag. Where he eats, where he rests on the weekend, which shops he prefers. All this is known thanks to the data collected based on the geolocation of the mobile device of the trackers, and fell into the hands of a person who sells them. A team of reporters from "Bayerischer rundfunk" and the site netzpolitik.org analyzed the information.
3.6 billion app locations
The data includes 3.6 billion units of personal location information collected by smartphone apps that record this data and sell it to third parties. The investigation shows that it is about the data of several million people from all over Germany, which can be used to reconstruct their movements very precisely. Among those affected are tens of thousands who work in the field of security, writes ARD.
Although the data does not include the name of the person, investigative journalists were able to identify some of those affected, thanks to information about their place of residence and place of work. It's a door that could be used for espionage, say experts, who worry that it's not getting enough attention in Germany.
Data is used by intelligence services
Recently, a number of espionage cases have become public in Germany. For a large part of them, journalists have managed to find information in these leaked geolocation data as well. In response to an inquiry, the Federal Intelligence Service said it does not comment publicly on intelligence findings or activities. The Ministry of the Interior and the Ministry of Defense point out that they regularly inform their employees about the potential risks and instruct them on how to handle official and personal devices. In response to inquiries, both ministries said that foreign intelligence services typically use all available means to obtain information, exert influence and pursue their own interests. This also includes the purchase and use of data available on the Internet, writes ARD.
A recent study by the Berlin-based think tank "Interface", which specializes in the societal effect of digitization, finds that the German intelligence services are also using such data for their own purposes. They never answered the questions of the journalists from the German public-law media about the case.
Data is from smartphone apps
All the data that the reporters from "Bayerischer rundfunk" and netzpolitik.org have analyzed, were obtained for free (for a sample) and are from a specific period - eight weeks at the end of 2023. The journalists reached them through a dealer of similar information from the US, which sells information through the Berlin exchange Datarade. Many data marketers say they collect the information from smartphone apps such as weather forecast, navigation, even games and dating sites. Companies often buy such data to know what ads to offer users.
The journalists contacted several people whose data was found in the information they obtained. They confirm that all information is accurate. Many of them are amazed that their data has reached the peddlers of this kind of information and is being sold.
Regulations are not enough
According to Louise Specht-Rimenschneider, professor of data protection at the University of Bonn, European authorities have a hard time dealing with data traders who operate outside the Community. At the moment, however, it is also difficult to take action against trading centers such as the Berlin data exchange Datarade: "The data exchange is essentially a broker that does not process any personal data itself. In a sense, this is a regulatory loophole," the expert told ARD.
Until legislators actively seek ways to curb this data trade, the business will remain lucrative worldwide. For a few thousand dollars you can get the location data of any people anywhere in the world.