A report published Monday, November 16 by tech publication Motherboard detailed how US military agencies are obtaining location data of private individuals through the use of common apps.

The report identified two companies whose apps or codes embedded in third-party apps collect data and sell them to the US military or US military contractors: Babel Street and X-Mode, both of which are headquartered in Reston, Virginia in the US.

Babel Street makes a location tracking tool called Locate X, described in a separate Protocol report in March as a “powerful tool that uses data from popular mobile apps to track the movement of people’s cell phones.” 

Protocol reported then of US law enforcement agencies such as the US Customs and Border Protection, and the US Secret Service’s purchase of Locate X’s services. Motherboard’s more recent report confirms the US Special Operations Command’s (USSOCOM) availing the same service.

The USSOCOM, a branch of the military, is said to be tasked with counterterrorism, counterinsurgency, and special reconnaissance. It bought Locate X’s services to “assist on overseas special forces operations,” Motherboard said.

The other company, X-Mode, has their code embedded into popular apps. The apps collect the location data, and is sent back to X-Mode. X-Mode then sells the data to military contractors, Motherboard said. 

X-Mode’s code or software development kits (SDKs) are found in about 400 apps, according to the report. These include a Muslim prayer app called Muslim Pro (98 million downloads); the Muslim Mingle dating app (100,000-plus downloads); the Accupedo step counter app (5 million downloads); Cplus for Craigslist app, which helps users search on Craigslist (1 million-plus downloads); and Global Storms app for following hurricanes and typhoons (1 million-plus downloads).

Muslim Mingle, Muslim Pro, Accupedo, and Global Storms are all downloadable in the Philippines.

Motherboard found that X-Mode’s clients have included military contractors.

One of these is Sierra Nevada Corporation, which builds combat aircraft for the US Air Force, and supports another contractor, Northrop Grumman, in the development of cyber and electronic warfare capabilities for the US Army. Another contractor, Systems & Technology Research, offers support to intelligence analysts as per its website, and works with the US Army, Navy, and Air Force based on procurement records.

Some of the app developers involved with X-Mode told Motherboard they didn’t know about the military contracts or were not aware of the military connections. Another said they were comfortable with how X-Mode uses their location data while one chose to not comment on it. The apps’ disclosures to users regarding the use of their location data was “lackluster,” as described by Motherboard. 

The report shows how ordinary apps may be used to harvest private citizen data for use of the military. Personal data has leaked through giants such as Facebook and Google, and as the report has shown, it can also leak through less popular, seemingly innocuous apps. 

The report makes the US appear hypocritical – waging an ongoing campaign against Chinese tech companies, specifically Huawei, for espionage concerns while its military engages in the monitoring of individuals as well. – Rappler.com