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The Murky Ad-Tech World Powering Surveillance of US Military Personnel

A Florida data broker told a US senator it obtained sensitive data on US military members in Germany from a Lithuanian firm, which denies involvement—revealing the opaque nature of online ad surveillance.
The Murky Ad-Tech World Powering Surveillance of US Military Personnel
Eskimi's office. Image: SRF.

This article was produced with support from WIRED.

Last year, a media investigation revealed that a Florida-based data broker, Datastream Group, was selling highly sensitive location data that tracked United States military and intelligence personnel overseas. At the time, the origin of that data was unknown.

Now, a letter sent to US senator Ron Wyden’s office that was obtained by an international collective of media outlets—including WIRED and 404 Media—claims that the ultimate source of that data was Eskimi, a little-known Lithuanian ad-tech company. Eskimi, meanwhile, denies it had any involvement.

Eskimi’s alleged role—and its denials—highlight the opaque nature of the location data industry: A data broker in Florida claims a Lithuanian company provided data on US military personnel in Germany. That data could theoretically be sold to essentially anyone. But the exact ways in which the data is collected, compiled, and shared remains unclear. 

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