Shiloh
Editor, Senior Moderator
Source: https://www.stamfordadvocate.com/ne...hared-billions-of-phone-location-16609168.php
Data broker shared billions of phone location records with D.C. government as part of covid-tracking effort
Drew Harwell, The Washington Post
Nov. 10, 2021
WASHINGTON -- A data broker shared billions of "highly sensitive" phone-location records with the Washington D.C. government last year that revealed how people moved about the city, public records show.
The sharing of the raw phone location data was pitched as uniquely valuable for tracking the covid pandemic, the records show. But the provision of the records for six months to the D.C. government's Department of Health also shows the potential for abuse of such data, which is generally collected without consumers' knowledge and then resold to both public and private buyers.
The company, Veraset, provided the data as part of a free trial, according to internal emails obtained via a Freedom of Information Act request by the Electronic Frontier Foundation, a digital-rights group. D.C. officials reviewed the data but ultimately declined to renew the partnership after the trial ended.
The emails show that the shared data was authorized for covid-tracking purposes only and did not include people's names and personal details. EFF researchers said they found no evidence the data was misused...
Data broker shared billions of phone location records with D.C. government as part of covid-tracking effort
Drew Harwell, The Washington Post
Nov. 10, 2021
WASHINGTON -- A data broker shared billions of "highly sensitive" phone-location records with the Washington D.C. government last year that revealed how people moved about the city, public records show.
The sharing of the raw phone location data was pitched as uniquely valuable for tracking the covid pandemic, the records show. But the provision of the records for six months to the D.C. government's Department of Health also shows the potential for abuse of such data, which is generally collected without consumers' knowledge and then resold to both public and private buyers.
The company, Veraset, provided the data as part of a free trial, according to internal emails obtained via a Freedom of Information Act request by the Electronic Frontier Foundation, a digital-rights group. D.C. officials reviewed the data but ultimately declined to renew the partnership after the trial ended.
The emails show that the shared data was authorized for covid-tracking purposes only and did not include people's names and personal details. EFF researchers said they found no evidence the data was misused...