Government contractors claiming to be able to track about 3 billion devices in real time showcase intelligence spying on intelligence agencies CIA and NSA
In recent years,
Anomaly Six Demo'd Surveillance Powers by Spying on CIA
https://theintercept.com/2022/04/22/anomaly-six-phone-tracking-zignal-surveillance-cia-nsa/
Based in Virginia, USA, Anomaly Six is a smartphone location information sales company founded by former U.S. military intelligence officers Brendan Huff and Jeffrey Heinz in 2018, but most of the information is also published on the website. Is not ... However, in September 2020, the United States Special Operations Command (SOCOM) purchased access rights for one year for $ 589,500 (about 62 million yen), and has accumulated a track record as a contractor of the US government.
In a presentation record obtained by The Intercept from an anonymous informant, Anomaly Six claims to be able to track approximately 3 billion devices in real time. Through the software development kit (SDK) used in thousands of smartphone apps, Anomaly Six collects GPS location information for each device about 30-60 times a day, generating about 2.5 trillion data points annually. It seems that it is. In addition, Brendon Clark of Anomaly Six said in the presentation that he is also building the email and other personal information libraries used to register for the smartphone app, 'Users are probably 60 pages. I don't read the license agreement, I agree to everything and send the data. '
As a method of utilizing Anomaly Six, the person who sent a specific tweet in combination with the product of Zignal Labs , a social media monitoring company that uses a service called ' Firehose ' that can acquire a large amount of tweet information posted on Twitter in real time, It is said that you can track where you sent, who you were with, where you were before sending the tweet, where you went after sending the tweet, and so on. Twitter prohibits third-party monitoring and information gathering through the platform, but a Zignal Labs spokeswoman responded to The Intercept's inquiry by saying, 'Zignal adheres to privacy laws and guidelines set by data partners. I am in compliance. '
Customers using Anomaly Six's software will be able to view their tracking smartphone on a convenient and intuitive Google Maps-style satellite imagery. Surrounding the point where the user wants to 'track smartphones entering and exiting here', Anomaly Six displays the smartphones that have passed through that area as dots, and clicking the dots allows you to see the movement route of the smartphone all over the world. that's right.
Clark explained that this feature could be used to 'track the movements of Russian soldiers from military installations to their homes,' as well as a demonstration of 'tracking the movements of the
In addition, Anomaly Six is even demonstrating what other companies haven't done, 'spying the CIA, an American intelligence agency, on NSA staff smartphones.' 'I like to make fun of my relatives,' said Clark, who displayed the NSA headquarters in Fort Meade , Maryland and the CIA headquarters in Langley , Virginia on a satellite map, enclosing them in a square. That is. Then, 183 smartphones that visited both institutions were displayed in dots and became traceable, Mr. Clark said, 'If I am a foreign intelligence officer, this will be the starting point for 183 investigations.' It seems that it was done.
By clicking on one dot that actually visited the NSA, the place where the person moved can be tracked from a year ago to the time of the presentation, and a one-hour drive from Jordan's Mwaffak Salty Air Force Base visited the training center. He said that he was able to find out. 'If I'm a foreign intelligence officer, I don't have access to CIA or NSA agencies or garrison, but I know where they live, where they travel, and when they leave the country. 'Mr. Clark said.
In addition, Clark showed the location of the ship from the smartphone of a soldier on board a US Navy ship. And finally, the location information of the smartphone on what is said to be a 'China nuclear submarine' was displayed, and the series of demonstrations was completed.
Also, although the GPS data of Anomaly Six itself does not contain personal information, it seems that it is possible to analyze the target using the function called 'regularity' installed in the software. This function automatically analyzes the places that smartphones frequently visit and guesses where they live and where they work. Nate Wessler , Deputy Director of the American Civil Liberties Union 's Speech Privacy Technology Project, said, 'Mobile phone location data collection and sales are tied to the device's ID number, not the name, so it doesn't violate privacy. The industry has repeatedly insisted. This feature proves how easy it is. By following the person's movements 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, where the person lives, where he works, You know who you spend your time with and who you are. '
The Intercept couldn't test the data collection capabilities Anomaly Six claims in its presentation, but privacy researcher Zack Edwards said these companies tend to exaggerate data quality, Anomaly Six said. Pointed out that there is a possibility that the company is expanding its large bath room. Mobile security researcher Will Straffer agrees with Edwards, saying, 'This claim is worrisome, but not too far from the ambitious claims of other companies.' Meanwhile, app data industry expert Wolfy Kristol is deeply concerned about personal privacy, even if Anomaly Six's capabilities are exaggerated or based on inaccurate data. I insist that it should be.
Democratic Senator Ron Wyden told The Intercept, 'If data brokers can track hundreds of intelligence agents to their homes and around the world, they could pose a serious national security threat.' He said the government should also consider legal restrictions on purchasing location data from businesses and crackdowns on future location data supply chains.
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