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Anonymous ID: a1c4a0 July 28, 2022, 1:32 a.m. No.16885536   🗄️.is đź”—kun   >>5731 >>0332

HOW THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT BUYS OUR CELL PHONE LOCATION DATAPART VI

Published: June 14, 2022

SOURCE: ELECTRONIC FRONTIER FOUNDATION

 

MILITARY AND INTELLIGENCE AGENCIES

Military and foreign intelligence agencies have used location data in numerous instances. In one unclassified project, researchers at Mississippi State University used Locate X data to track movements around Russian missile test sites, including those of high-level diplomats. The U.S. Army funded the project and said it showed “good potential use” of the data in the future. It also said that the collection of cell phone data was consistent with Army policy as long as no “personal characteristics” of the phone’s owner were collected (but of course, detailed movements of individuals are actually “personal characteristics”).

 

Another customer of Locate X is the Iowa Air National Guard, as first reported by Motherboard. Specifically, the Des Moines-based 132d wing—which reportedly conducts “long-endurance coverage” and “dynamic execution of targets” with MQ-9 Reaper drones—purchased a 1-year license to Locate X for $35,000. The air base said the license would be used to “support federal mission requirements overseas,” but did not elaborate further.

 

Anomaly 6 only has one confirmed federal client: the U.S. Special Operations Command, or SOCOM. In 2020, SOCAFRICA - a division which focuses on the African continent - spent nearly $600,000 on a “commercial telemetry feed” from A6. In March 2021, SOCOM told Vice that the purpose of the contract was to “evaluate” the feasibility of using A6 services in an “overseas operating environment,” and that the government was no longer executing the contract. In September 2021, federal procurement records show that the U.S. Marines’ special operations command, MARSOC, executed another contract for $8,700 for “SME Support” from A6. (SME could stand for Subject Matter Expert, implying that A6 provided training or expertise.)

 

Finally, the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) has confirmed that it, too, works with location data brokers. In a January 2021 memo to Senator Ron Wyden, DIA stated that it “provides funding to another agency” that purchases location data from smartphones on its behalf. The data is global in scope, including devices inside and outside the United States, though the DIA said it segregates U.S. data points into a separate database as it arrives. The U.S. location database can only be queried after a “specific process” involving approval from multiple government agencies, and the DIA stated that permission had been granted five times in the previous two and a half years. The DIA claimed it needs a warrant to access the information. It’s unclear which data broker or brokers the DIA has worked with.

https://www.blacklistednews.com/article/82756/how-the-federal-government-buys-our-cell-phone-location.html