US EditionEC Expresses 'Concern' in Wake of New Phone Location Data Exposé
Data brokers legally sold location data tracking 807 devices at EU and NATO sites, raising safety and espionage concerns among officials and lawmakers.
- European reporters in Germany, France, Belgium and the Netherlands uncovered commercially available phone location data tied to hundreds of devices carried by EU and NATO officials in Belgium.
- Purchased data from commercial brokers showed two datasets containing 278 million mobile‑phone location pings from Belgium, legally available from data brokers in the digital advertising and marketing industry.
- Analysis showed specific links to 264 devices inside the European Commission's Berlaymont headquarters and 543 at NATO headquarters, with reporters tracking some to residential addresses of officials.
- The European Commission responded that the revelations are concerning and issued fresh guidance on ad-tracking while informing Computer Security Incident Response Teams in Member States; the Irish Data Protection Commission launched an investigation.
- MEPs responded by urging tougher enforcement or new laws, with Fianna Fáil MEP Billy Kelleher, Fine Gael MEP Maria Walsh, and Independent MEP Michael McNamara warning existing protections don’t go far enough.
11 Articles
11 Articles
Phone location data of top EU officials for sale, report finds
Journalists in Europe found it was "easy" to spy on top European Union officials using commercially obtained location data sold by data brokers, despite the continent having some of the strongest data protection laws in the world.
EC expresses 'concern' in wake of new phone location data exposé
Hundreds of devices carried by EU and NATO officials have been tracked to personal and secure locations in Belgium through commercially available phone location data which was obtained by a group of European news outlets.
Through illegal data traders, researchers from BNR and others obtained the location data of millions of mobile phones in Belgium, including those of high-ranking EU officials, whom they were sometimes able to track right down to their offices.
Dealers offer movement data from millions of EU citizens for sale. Because, according to research by BR and netzpolitik.org, staff from EU institutions can also be scouted out, the Commission adapts its guidelines for employees.
Geolocalised advertising data obtained by "Le Monde" and its partners have enabled several European Union dignitaries to be identified and tracked, a practical case illustrating the limitations of the European framework for personal data.
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- 50% of the sources lean Left, 50% of the sources are Center
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