Webloc tool tracks 500M phones via ad data

A sprawling advertising-based surveillance apparatus known as Webloc, capable of tracking the historical movements of up to half a billion mobile devices, has been linked to law enforcement and intelligence agencies across Hungary, El Salvador, and numerous U.S. jurisdictions, according to an investigation by the University of Toronto's Citizen Lab, according to The Hacker News.

The tool, originally developed by Israeli firm Cobwebs Technologies and now managed by Penlink following a 2023 merger, harvests geolocation coordinates and device identifiers siphoned from the digital advertising ecosystem, effectively allowing customers to retroactively plot an individual's whereabouts and routines without deploying traditional investigative techniques. Researchers Wolfie Christl and colleagues detailed that Webloc integrates with the Tangles intelligence platform to furnish a "constantly updated stream of records" drawn from mobile app data exhaust.

While Penlink markets the capability as a legitimate investigative aid for mapping connections between physical and digital footprints, the report raises substantial legal and privacy concerns regarding warrantless tracking, noting deployments within U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, state police agencies, and local district attorney offices.