There was a #GravyAnalytics data leakage in January 2025. According to an article in WIRED, this data broker was primarily selling user location data (i.e., our locations).
I scanned my Samsung Galaxy's Android installation, which I used before switching to GrapheneOS, and below is a list of apps that were most likely selling my location.
A link to the FOSS app is below
Watch Now: Navigating #Surveillance with @eff Members
Online surveillance is everywhere—and understanding how you’re being #tracked , and how to fight back, is more important than ever. That’s why EFF partnered with Women In #Security and #Privacy ( #WISP ) for our annual Global Members’ #Speakeasy , where we tackled online #behavioral tracking and the massive data broker industry that profits from your personal information.
#databrokers
https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2025/10/watch-now-navigating-surveillance-eff-members
California’s New Delete Request Tool Impacts Data Brokers and Residents. Tool will be available to consumers by January 1, 2026.
"Starting August 1, 2026, data brokers must access the DROP system every 45 days to retrieve and process deletion requests."
Data broker is pretending they're defending freedom of speech ironic..
They charge people to search criminal records. That's their business. Courts still give out the same information - these companies just can't automatically collect it all and sell access anymore.
They're trying to frame "we can't profit off public data" as "the criminals are winning." It's surveillance wrapped in journalism language.
Anyone can still get court records. Just not from companies charging for it. That's not a threat to free speech, that's stopping data brokers from monetizing personal information.
https://www.aftonbladet.se/nyheter/a/Mn2w70/lexbase-stoppas-stor-seger-for-de-kriminella
This is exactly the same message as the #BigTechWalkout2025 only we're aiming to starve #bigtech and #databrokers of #data whereas #BlackoutTheSystem are starving the economy of labour and money.
https://substack.com/@blackoutthesystem/note/c-163569298
Big tech walkout - first steps:
https://www.rebeltechalliance.org/collectiveaction.html
Start today - it's easy!
Ted Cruz Kills America’s Latest Attempt To Have Functional Privacy Laws
Meta's new Business AI wants to chat with your customers on every website.
Not just recommendations. Full conversations. Learning preferences. Building profiles.
They're not selling AI tools. They're buying direct access to every customer interaction online.
The data play was always the real product.
Ted Cruz blocks bill that would extend privacy protections to all Americans
Dear hackers,
Hack the databrokers, infect their SDK's and libraries to randomize data so its useless, find their customer list of all the app devs who use their stuff, leak that, then finally leak all their emails and recorded zoom calls, then finally ransomware their data, donate that money to foodbanks and scholarships, and make sure the data is never usable again.
That's what I would do if i had the skills I mean.
Edit/Update: Is that #hacktivism ?? butterfly
"[A] pending bill in Congress level aims to protect just one of the impacted groups — lawmakers — not just from data brokers but from reporters and activists as well. The bill, sponsored by Sens. Amy Klobuchar and Ted Cruz, does nothing for the rest of us except undermine our ability to hold lawmakers accountable. It would allow members of Congress to remove information about themselves from the internet altogether, regardless of whether data brokers are involved.
But even more strangely, the legislation falls short of its own goal of stopping data brokers, and therefore won’t make members of Congress safer. As a coalition of rights groups explained recently, the bill falls short of what we should expect from Congress, in terms of both efficacy and transparency.
The bill wouldn’t adequately protect lawmakers from data brokers because it wouldn’t apply to certain data brokers at all.
The bill specifically exempts any data broker covered by the Fair Credit Reporting Act, a federal law governing the collection and use of consumer information, or the Graham-Leach-Bliley Act, a federal law that protects sensitive data held by financial institutions.
This loophole means that bad actors could still buy lawmakers’ private information from data brokers..."
https://www.startribune.com/us-data-broker-websites-bill-private-information/601479276
#USA #DataBrokers #Democracy #Accountability #Privacy #DataProtection #InvestigativeJournalism #PressFreedom
Your car is quietly spying on you — from location to braking habits — then selling it all to data brokers. 🚨
#Privacy #CarSpying #DataBrokers #TechEthics #TheInternetIsCrack #podcast
Why do we have to live in a world where services exist to help remove your personal data from completely legal data brokers?
Anyone have any experience with these services? A friend suggested Incogni in passing and it got me thinking about it..
Tracking you just stepped it up to watch your body proportions, your walk and other movements, lest your face. Whole biometrics essentially. #survillance #imagination #protesting #AI #databrokers @thehatedone
Politically motivated threats and violence are unacceptable. I came across a service for government employees in the U.S. that helps with #OnlinePrivacy, #DataBrokers, and #threats. I hope this resource is helpful to those of you who are eligible. It seems to be open to anyone who has worked in a government role, from educators to legislators.
https://www.wired.com/story/public-service-alliance-marketplace-privacy-threats/
I was talking with a friend about dating apps, privacy, security and safety.
They are using Feeld, which lets you tag specific kinks -- and which changed their TOS about 2 years ago (IIRC) to specify that they sell user data. (In a massive betrayal of the trust and safety of their user base.)
My friend's response was that they aren't ashamed of who they are and if an app wants to sell their data, no big deal.
My position was that in a time of rising fascism, it's really worth thinking about how in the 1930's, IBM set up the systems to tag and sort people by "undesirable" qualities. In Germany.
I fear for people with all my heart.
For the reading comprehension impaired, let me be clear: I'm not telling anyone not to live their life. I'm saying be smart, raise your game on privacy and security, and keep yourself and your people as safe as you can in a brutal world.
@Em0nM4stodon wrote a great article on data privacy and dating apps (with a focus on queer apps but also relevant to any dating apps).
Read it, share it with your people, and act on it.
https://www.privacyguides.org/articles/2025/06/24/queer-dating-apps-beware-who-you-trust/
#Dating #QueerDating #DatingApps #SurveillanceCapitalism #DataBrokers #DatingApp #Privacy #PrivacyGuides #Feeld #SocialMedia #Technology
🧹 Your personal data is being sold—addresses, numbers, even family ties.
I built a Data Broker Deletion Blueprint: 10 clear PDFs with step-by-step guides to wipe yourself from 50+ data broker sites.
Take back control of your privacy.
👉 https://8042657967335.gumroad.com/l/zzgdc
Site Behind Major SSN Leak Returns With Detailed Data on Millions: How to Opt Out https://www.pcmag.com/news/site-behind-major-ssn-leak-returns-with-detailed-data-on-millions-how-to
#cybersecurity #privacy #PII #databrokers #scum #cybercrime #fraud
#DataBrokers Are Hiding Their #OptOut Pages From #GoogleSearch
https://www.wired.com/story/data-brokers-hiding-opt-out-pages-google-search/
#TheMarkup: "We caught companies making it harder to delete your personal data online"
https://themarkup.org/privacy/2025/08/12/we-caught-companies-making-it-harder-to-delete-your-data
#DataBrokers Face New Pressure for Hiding Opt-Out Pages From #Google
After reporters found dozens of firms hiding #privacy tools from #search results, US senator Maggie Hassan insists the companies explain their practices—and pledge to improve access to privacy controls.
#optout
https://www.wired.com/story/hassan-data-broker-opt-out-letter/
