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Advertising algorithms have become a powerful weapon for revealing military secrets.
Recently, German researchers discovered that the location data of millions of German residents is publicly available. This data, originally collected for advertising purposes, can be used by hackers for espionage, including spying on specific people, which is especially worrying when it comes to employees of government and military institutions.
As proof of their claims, the experts conducted a small experiment. For several days, they tracked the movements of a person whose data was obtained absolutely free of charge on the online market. The main tool for surveillance was not sophisticated spy equipment, but a regular mobile phone.
In the early morning, the person being tracked left his home in Bavaria and went to work. His journey ended in the Mannwald-Kazarne parking lot in Bad Aibling, where the branch of the German Federal Intelligence Service (BND) is located. The researchers followed the man's movements for several days, identifying all his work and personal routes.
The example considered included only one person, but the data available on the network allows you to create detailed movement profiles for millions of phones. Through spot checks, the researchers were able to easily identify the routes of secret service personnel, ministries, and military installations such as barracks, ammunition depots, and training grounds.
Experts warn that such data threatens not only the privacy of ordinary residents of Germany, but also national security in principle. The information available online can easily be used to spy on security personnel and their families, as well as to obtain information about military and intelligence facilities.
The situation is compounded by the fact that the trade in location data collected by the advertising industry has long been known. But despite numerous warnings, the legislation of many countries still does not take into account the espionage risks of advertising tracking.
Among the main providers of such data in Germany, the researchers noted the American company Datastream Group, which operates on German territory through the Datarade platform, operated by a local company from Berlin.
One of the datasets distributed by the platform contained 3.6 billion location records collected in the fall of 2023 via mobile apps. It is noteworthy that most of this data can be obtained absolutely free of charge, without spending a penny out of your own pocket.
Datarade representatives did not respond to requests for comment. However, the platform previously stated that it only acts as an intermediary and sells only legal data. However, according to lawyer Martin Bauman, it is precisely this kind of data that allows hackers to monitor people 24 hours a day, with virtually no risk of being detected.
Thus, the trade in location data threatens not only the privacy of mobile phone users, but also national security. And this applies not only to Germany, but also to many other countries where such companies operate openly and do not face strict restrictions from local authorities.
The current situation highlights the urgent need to review ethical standards in the field of personal data collection and use, as well as the importance of creating a stricter legal framework for protecting citizens in the digital space. Society has long faced a choice: either adapt laws and practices to new realities, or risk losing control of its own information in the pursuit of technological progress.
Source
Recently, German researchers discovered that the location data of millions of German residents is publicly available. This data, originally collected for advertising purposes, can be used by hackers for espionage, including spying on specific people, which is especially worrying when it comes to employees of government and military institutions.
As proof of their claims, the experts conducted a small experiment. For several days, they tracked the movements of a person whose data was obtained absolutely free of charge on the online market. The main tool for surveillance was not sophisticated spy equipment, but a regular mobile phone.
In the early morning, the person being tracked left his home in Bavaria and went to work. His journey ended in the Mannwald-Kazarne parking lot in Bad Aibling, where the branch of the German Federal Intelligence Service (BND) is located. The researchers followed the man's movements for several days, identifying all his work and personal routes.
The example considered included only one person, but the data available on the network allows you to create detailed movement profiles for millions of phones. Through spot checks, the researchers were able to easily identify the routes of secret service personnel, ministries, and military installations such as barracks, ammunition depots, and training grounds.
Experts warn that such data threatens not only the privacy of ordinary residents of Germany, but also national security in principle. The information available online can easily be used to spy on security personnel and their families, as well as to obtain information about military and intelligence facilities.
The situation is compounded by the fact that the trade in location data collected by the advertising industry has long been known. But despite numerous warnings, the legislation of many countries still does not take into account the espionage risks of advertising tracking.
Among the main providers of such data in Germany, the researchers noted the American company Datastream Group, which operates on German territory through the Datarade platform, operated by a local company from Berlin.
One of the datasets distributed by the platform contained 3.6 billion location records collected in the fall of 2023 via mobile apps. It is noteworthy that most of this data can be obtained absolutely free of charge, without spending a penny out of your own pocket.
Datarade representatives did not respond to requests for comment. However, the platform previously stated that it only acts as an intermediary and sells only legal data. However, according to lawyer Martin Bauman, it is precisely this kind of data that allows hackers to monitor people 24 hours a day, with virtually no risk of being detected.
Thus, the trade in location data threatens not only the privacy of mobile phone users, but also national security. And this applies not only to Germany, but also to many other countries where such companies operate openly and do not face strict restrictions from local authorities.
The current situation highlights the urgent need to review ethical standards in the field of personal data collection and use, as well as the importance of creating a stricter legal framework for protecting citizens in the digital space. Society has long faced a choice: either adapt laws and practices to new realities, or risk losing control of its own information in the pursuit of technological progress.
Source
