Investigators demonstrated a government-purchased tool tracing a phone from a home, to a church, across state lines and into an abortion clinic.
App-derived location data → commercial broker → government-accessible movement history
EVIDENCE LIBRARY · DATA BROKERS / INFRASTRUCTURE
How does information move between systems?
Commercial location data, brokers, SDKs, and intermediary systems that connect collection to downstream users.
The Secret Service relied on claims that consumers consented to location-data collection. Asked what it did to verify that consent, the agency answered: none.
“Consumer consent” justification → verification requested → no independent verification
The FTC alleged a commercial location-data ecosystem could expose visits to sensitive places and characteristics.
Mobile location signal → supplier / broker → audience or movement intelligence → downstream customer
Precise location collection can begin inside someone else's app.
Third-party app → embedded SDK → precise location → commercial profile