A hack of location data company Gravy Analytics reveals that thousands of popular Android and Apple apps are being exploited to collect sensitive location data on a massive scale, often without the knowledge of users or app developers. The data is being harvested through the advertising ecosystem rather than app code, indicating a disturbing trend in the mobile app industry.
A massive data breach of location data company Gravy Analytics has exposed how popular apps across the Android and Apple platforms are being exploited, often without the knowledge of users or app developers, to collect sensitive location information on an immense scale.that a recent hack of location data company Gravy Analytics has shed light on a disturbing trend in the mobile app industry.
The hacked Gravy Analytics data provides a rare glimpse into the world of real-time bidding , where companies bid to place ads inside apps. While app developers historically paid location data firms to include code that collected user location data, many companies have turned to sourcing this information through the advertising ecosystem instead. However, data brokers can listen in on this bidding process and harvest the location of mobile phones as a side effect.
It’s unclear whether Gravy Analytics collected this location data itself or sourced it from another company. Still, the implications are significant, as Gravy is known to collate mobile phone location data from various sources and sell it to commercial companies or, through its subsidiary Venntel, to U.S. government agencies.
While some app developers and companies included in the list claimed no relationship with Gravy Analytics or denied authorizing the collection of user location data, the nature of the RTB process means that a member of the advertising ecosystem could still extract such data without their knowledge.
DATA BREACH LOCATION DATA MOBILE APPS ADVERTISING PRIVACY
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