26.12.2024 18:22:00
Дата публикации
Fog Data Science, an American company that specializes in collecting location data, provides its services to law enforcement agencies to track the movements of suspects. 404 Media reports that they use the addresses and coordinates of various objects to compile lists of places that suspects have visited.
Law enforcement officers fill out a special form called “Project Intake Form”, in which they indicate the possible locations of the suspect and their device. These can be the homes of relatives, friends, offices and even, for example, doctors' offices. The form also asks for the suspect's name and connection to criminal activity.
Fog Data Science collects data using smartphone geolocation through apps that sell the information to third-party brokers. This data is then processed and provided to the police for a subscription. The company claims to have billions of data points from 250 million devices in the United States alone.
The use of such technologies raises concerns among privacy advocates. Experts believe that collecting data on visits to various institutions violates privacy rights.
In 2022, the US Federal Trade Commission accused Venntel, one of the data providers for Fog Data Science, of selling confidential information without the consent of users. As part of the settlement, the company pledged to stop selling data on sensitive locations, such as religious sites and medical facilities.
Fog Data Science claims that its technology protects national security, but human rights organizations fear that such mass surveillance methods undermine civil liberties. The use of data without proper anonymization, as well as the possibility of its transfer to third parties, puts at risk the safety of not only suspects, but also ordinary citizens.
In Kazakhstan, geolocation data is collected by many digital platforms and services, such as banking applications, marketplaces, or online maps such as 2GIS or Yandex Maps. However, there is no confirmed information about the sale or unjustified use of geolocation data.
Companies that collect such data are advised to clearly state in their privacy policies how and for what purposes this data is collected, how long it is stored and whether it is transferred to third parties. And also to ensure high technical protection of such data.
(the text translation was done automatically)
Law enforcement officers fill out a special form called “Project Intake Form”, in which they indicate the possible locations of the suspect and their device. These can be the homes of relatives, friends, offices and even, for example, doctors' offices. The form also asks for the suspect's name and connection to criminal activity.
Fog Data Science collects data using smartphone geolocation through apps that sell the information to third-party brokers. This data is then processed and provided to the police for a subscription. The company claims to have billions of data points from 250 million devices in the United States alone.
The use of such technologies raises concerns among privacy advocates. Experts believe that collecting data on visits to various institutions violates privacy rights.
In 2022, the US Federal Trade Commission accused Venntel, one of the data providers for Fog Data Science, of selling confidential information without the consent of users. As part of the settlement, the company pledged to stop selling data on sensitive locations, such as religious sites and medical facilities.
Fog Data Science claims that its technology protects national security, but human rights organizations fear that such mass surveillance methods undermine civil liberties. The use of data without proper anonymization, as well as the possibility of its transfer to third parties, puts at risk the safety of not only suspects, but also ordinary citizens.
In Kazakhstan, geolocation data is collected by many digital platforms and services, such as banking applications, marketplaces, or online maps such as 2GIS or Yandex Maps. However, there is no confirmed information about the sale or unjustified use of geolocation data.
Companies that collect such data are advised to clearly state in their privacy policies how and for what purposes this data is collected, how long it is stored and whether it is transferred to third parties. And also to ensure high technical protection of such data.
