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August 12, 2021 02:46 pm
Original Link: http://rss.slashdot.org/~r/Slashdot/slashdot/~3/SHJ3d4cU5PM/google-bans-location-data-firm-funded-by-former-saudi-intelligence-head
Google Bans Location Data Firm Funded by Former Saudi Intelligence Head
Google has banned SafeGraph, a location data firm whose investors include a former head of Saudi intelligence, Motherboard reported Tuesday. From a report: The ban means that any apps working with SafeGraph had to remove the offending location gathering code from their apps. SafeGraph markets its data to government entities and a wide range of industries, but it also sells the data on the open market to essentially anyone. The news signals Google's continued crackdown on location data firms who sometimes, in violation of Google's policies, pay app developers to include their data harvesting code and then sell the collected data to companies or government agencies. "They are willing to sell extremely fine-grained data and anyone with a credit card can start buying it," Zach Edwards, a researcher who has closely followed the supply chain of various sources of data, told Motherboard in an email last year, when both he and Motherboard were separately investigating SafeGraph. SafeGraph collected at least some of its location data by having app developers embed the company's code, or software development kit (SDK), into their own apps. Those apps would then track the physical location of their users, which SafeGraph would repackage and then sell to other parties. Google confirmed to Motherboard it told app developers in early June they had seven days to remove SafeGraph's SDK from their apps. If they didn't do this, Google told Motherboard the apps may face enforcement. This can mean removal from the Play Store itself. Beyond its own data, SafeGraph also offers customers the chance to buy related data sets from other providers to enrich the location information, such as the names of property owners in the U.S.Read more of this story at Slashdot.
Original Link: http://rss.slashdot.org/~r/Slashdot/slashdot/~3/SHJ3d4cU5PM/google-bans-location-data-firm-funded-by-former-saudi-intelligence-head
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