"CBP was testing the use of commercially available marketing location data tied to mobile Advertising IDs (AdIDs) for its operations. The stated goal was to use that data to support the agency's targeting, vetting, analysis, and illicit network discovery processes."
"When an ad loads inside a mobile app, an automated auction known as real-time bidding takes place to determine which ad a user sees. During that process, advertising companies can collect data from mobile phones, including their location. The system relies on AdIDs, digital IDs assigned to a mobile device that function similarly to cookies on the web."
"In 2020, The Wall Street Journal reported that U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) bought access to a commercial database of cellphone location data to help identify immigrants who were later arrested. The Journal also reported that CBP used the information to look for cellphone activity in unusual areas, like remote desert regions near the border."
U.S. Customs and Border Protection obtained commercially available marketing location data tied to mobile Advertising IDs through a pilot program running from 2019 to 2021. The agency sourced this data from online advertising systems where location information is collected during real-time bidding auctions when ads load in mobile apps. Advertising IDs function similarly to web cookies, allowing tracking of devices over time without containing personal identifiers like names or phone numbers. CBP intended to use this location data to support targeting, vetting, analysis, and illicit network discovery processes. This represents the first confirmed documentation of CBP sourcing mobile phone location data from advertising systems, though DHS agencies' purchases of commercial cellphone location data from brokers were previously known.
Read at gizmodo.com
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