Mobile Ad Software Encourages Location Data Sharing, EFF Report Finds

The Electronic Frontier Foundation has found that several mobile advertising software development kits are automatically sharing users' location data with data brokers — without meaningful consent. Researchers at EFF reviewed dozens of widely-used ad SDKs and highlighted four: InMobi, BidMachine, Verve's HyBid, and Huawei's Petal Ads. These SDKs collect and share location data by default whenever users have granted an app location access, often leveraging privacy-invasive defaults and unclear documentation. According to EFF, location information from the ad industry has been used for immigration enforcement investigations, tracking activists and union organizers, and tracking U-S military personnel. The organization is calling on developers, regulators, and lawmakers to stop apps from leaking location data to advertisers and data brokers.

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