Introduction

Your data is valuable. Everything you do online and everywhere you go with your phone is tracked. And there’s a robust market for that data, a market that lets governments and private individuals purchase reams of your personal data. 

What if the CDC wanted to track people’s phones to see if they’re obeying Covid-19 lockdown orders? They can do that. 

What about a private individual paying to track the whereabouts of groups of people who visited Planned Parenthood? Also possible.

On this episode of Cyber, Motherboard Senior Staff Writer Joseph Cox comes on to discuss SafeGraph and the data it’s selling to anyone who is willing to pay.

Stories discussed in this episode:

Data Broker Is Selling Location Data of People Who Visit Abortion Clinics

CDC Tracked Millions of Phones to See If Americans Followed COVID Lockdown Orders

How the U.S. Military Buys Location Data from Ordinary Apps

Leaked Location Data Shows Another Muslim Prayer App Tracking Users

Google Bans Location Data Firm Funded by Former Saudi Intelligence Head

We’re recording CYBER live on Twitch. Watch live during the week. Follow us there to get alerts when we go live. We take questions from the audience and yours might just end up on the show.

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