Mobile Ad Software Encourages Location Data Sharing, EFF Report Finds
SAN FRANCISCO – Some software development kits (SDKs) provided by advertising companies to help developers monetize their apps are automatically feeding users’ location data into systems that location data brokers use to track people, an Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) report found.
EFF began investigating the location-sharing practices of various advertising SDKs to better understand the pipeline from mobile apps to location data brokers. The probe revealed how such SDKs can facilitate and encourage location data sharing – without users’ knowledge or meaningful consent – through privacy-invasive defaults, financial incentives, and unclear documentation.
“Defaults matter, not just for users, but for app developers as well. If app developers don’t pay close attention to the location-sharing settings of their advertising tools, they could inadvertently expose users’ location information,” EFF Staff Technologist Lena Cohen said. “Users can take extra steps to defend their location privacy, but they shouldn’t have to. Developers, regulators, and legislators must act to stop apps from leaking users’ location to advertising companies and data brokers.”
Cohen and EFF Senior Staff Technologist Bill Budington reviewed the public developer documentation of dozens of widely used advertising SDKs to identify how they handle and communicate with developers about location data.
In their analysis, they highlighted four advertising SDKs that collect and share a user's location by default for ad targeting whenever the user has given the app location permissions: InMobi, BidMachine, Verve’s HyBid, and Huawei’s Petal Ads. But EFF’s focus on these four does not mean that other SDKs adequately protect location data or that developers never choose to share location data when it’s not the default. In fact, advertising SDKs not discussed in this investigation have been criticized and sued for collecting location data without valid user consent.
“When developers let advertising SDKs collect location data, they’re putting users at risk of more than just creepy ads,” Budington said. “Location information sourced from the advertising industry has been used for ICE investigations, global spy tools, outing a gay priest, tracking union organizers, and tracking US military personnel. Developers have a responsibility to protect their users’ from these harms, regardless of advertising SDKs’ default settings.”
For the EFF report: https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2026/07/developers-beware-ad-libraries-betray-your-users-location-privacy
For more on location data brokers: https://www.eff.org/issues/location-data-brokers
For more on SDKs: https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2022/06/how-federal-government-buys-our-cell-phone-location-data
Related Markets
All MarketsMarket data may be delayed. Not financial advice.
- • Advertising SDKs like InMobi and Huawei’s Petal Ads automatically feed user location data to brokers.
- • Data is harvested through privacy invasive defaults and financial incentives without meaningful consent.
- • This information is used for surveillance, including tracking military personnel and activists.
Mobile app developers often integrate third party software kits to monetize their platforms. These kits create a pipeline that sends sensitive movement data to brokers and real time bidding systems.
Christian Perspective
The systematic theft of personal data through deception violates the biblical mandate for honesty and integrity. This digital spying treats human beings as mere commodities to be exploited for profit. It undermines the sanctity of the private sphere necessary for family life and spiritual devotion.
Implications
Mass surveillance threatens the ability of Christian families to live according to their convictions without state or corporate interference. When location data is used to track individuals, it empowers a secular bureaucracy to monitor the movements of the faithful. This erosion of privacy weakens the traditional social fabric and the autonomy of the household.
Broader Trends
This represents the continued expansion of a globalist surveillance apparatus that seeks to dissolve individual and national boundaries. The data broker industry functions as a parasitic layer of the digital economy that serves hostile interests. It aligns with the broader push toward a technocratic society where total transparency for the citizen is demanded while the elites remain opaque.
Takeaway
Americans must prioritize digital sovereignty by using tools like Bitcoin and encrypted communications to protect their footprint. Families should aggressively limit app permissions and avoid platforms that prioritize data harvesting over user security. Protecting one's location is a necessary step in defending the American way of life against digital encroachment.
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