ACCORDING to Citizen Lab, law enforcement has used an advertising-based geolocation system called Webloc to track hundreds of millions of devices by harvesting data from mobile apps and digital advertising. The tool, developed by Cobwebs Technologies and now sold by its successor Penlink after a merger in July 2023, is described as providing access to up to 500 million mobile devices worldwide with device identifiers, location coordinates and profile data.
U.S. customers of Webloc reportedly include Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), the U.S. military, Texas Department of Public Safety, DHS West Virginia, NYC district attorneys, and several police departments in Los Angeles, Dallas, Baltimore, Tucson, Durham and smaller jurisdictions.
The Webloc system is marketed as part of a broader Tangles-based surveillance suite and has been linked to using data purchased from mobile apps and digital advertising to analyse movements and characteristics of large populations, including potential warrants concerns raised by media and researchers.
Penlink responded that the findings rely on inaccurate information or misunderstandings about operations, while Citizen Lab claims that intrusive ad-based surveillance is used by military, intelligence and law enforcement agencies across multiple countries.