There’s a multibillion-dollar market for your phone’s location data. We surveyed 100 companies to find out who they are, what they do with your data, and whether they follow best practices.
Your phone’s location is constantly being tracked and collected by hundreds of companies, many of which are unknown to you. This data is valuable—and it’s being bought and sold in a thriving industry with little regulation.
The Markup surveyed 100 companies that collect or sell location data to get a better understanding of this industry and what it means for your privacy. We asked these companies about their policies and practices around collecting, using, and selling location data. We also reviewed their public statements and website disclosures related to privacy.
What we found was an industry that lacks transparency and accountability, with few companies following best practices around protecting the privacy of their users’ data. In many cases, these companies are collecting more data than they need, retaining it for longer than necessary, sharing it with third parties without user consent, or failing to secure it properly—putting users at risk of identity theft, fraud, or other harms.
If you care about your privacy, you should know who has access to your location data—and what they’re doing with it. This dataset contains information on the 100 companies we surveyed so that you can make informed choices about which ones to trust with your personal data
This dataset contains information on companies that collect and sell location data. The data includes the company name, website, logo, narrative, company response, privacy email, privacy policy, and whether or not the company is a California-licensed data broker