Phone Location Data Of Top Eu Officials For Sale, Report Finds

Journalists successful Europe recovered it was “easy” to spy connected apical European Union officials utilizing commercially obtained location histories sold by information brokers, contempt nan continent having immoderate of nan strongest information protection laws successful nan world.

EU officials said they’re “concerned” astir nan waste and acquisition of national and officials’ mobile telephone location data, and person issued caller guidance to unit to antagonistic nan tracking, according to a study by Netzpolitik.

A coalition of reporters obtained nan dataset, offered arsenic a free sample from a information broker, containing 278 cardinal location information points from nan phones of millions of group astir Belgium. Much of nan location information is uploaded by mean apps installed connected a person’s phones, which is sold to information brokers. Those information brokers past waste that information to governments and militaries. 

The dataset besides included nan granular location histories of Europe’s apical officials, including those who activity straight for nan European Commission, which has its office successful Brussels. 

The reporters said they were capable to place hundreds of devices belonging to group who activity successful delicate areas astir nan EU, including 2,000 location markers from 264 officials’ devices, and astir 5,800 location markers from much than 750 devices successful nan European Parliament.

Europe has immoderate of nan strongest information protection rules successful nan world pinch its GDPR law. However, watchdogs and officials crossed Europe person been slow to return stronger enforcement action against information brokers, Netpolitik reported. Data brokering has ballooned to go a billion-dollar manufacture involving nan waste and waste and acquisition of people’s location information and different backstage information.

To antagonistic immoderate of this location tracking, Apple customers tin anonymize their instrumentality identifiers, and Android owners tin regularly reset their device’s identifier.

Last year, a information agent called Gravy Analytics had a data breach that exposed nan location information belonging to tens of millions of people, including wherever they person been, live, and work. Researchers examining nan information said nan location records could beryllium utilized to extensively way people’s caller whereabouts.