BREAKING: You checked the weather this morning.

And you just told a surveillance company where you sleep.

Meet #Webloc, used by ICE, cops & foreign govs to track 500m+ phones.

No warrant required.

Our @citizenlab.ca investigation + how to protect yourself 🧵/1
citizenlab.ca/research/analysis-of-penlinks-ad-based-geolocation-surveillance-tech/

April 09, 2026 - 18:40 UTC

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Here in Canada the weather network app does the same thing and the data is sold through parent company Pelmorex to advertising companies like Pattison outdoor and clear channel. I seen the dashboard to view the data back in 2019 I can imagine it's come a long way since then.
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electronicintifada.net/blogs/david-cronin/firm-selling-israels-spy-tech-woos-europes-cops
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Alt text would be great if it was used all the way down
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TL;DR:

On an iPhone
→ Settings
→ Privacy & Security
→ Tracking
→ Turn off the slider for, "Allow Apps to Request to Track"
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On Android
Settings
Location
App Permissions
Select "Deny" for each app
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Thank you, do you happen to know of a way to get it to stop asking for me to set up Face ID?
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@unroll.skywriter.blue please unroll
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The thread as a shareable webpage: skywriter.blue/ href="/profile/jsrailton.bsky.social/3mj3hgmfnb22g">@jsrailton.bsky.social/3mj3hgmfnb22g
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2/ Heard of ADINT aka ADvertising INTelligence?

Your apps don't just show ads.

They stream of info about your GPS location + a unique identifier to HUNDREDS OF BROKERS EVERY SECOND.

The industry swears the data is "anonymous" but it's actually a Spies-eye-view. Of everyone.
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3/ Companies peddle the BS that advertising data is 'anonymous'

They want to keep you in the dark.

Because, behind the scenes...your weather app is a blinking tracking beacon.

And then players like #penlink turn that beacon into a data flow.

And sell it to governments.
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VPN. I was in Bumfuck Egypt this morning when I checked the weather. Though when I shop online, they want to ship there.
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Not the silver bullet you think it is, unfortunately. Apps are collecting geolocation and sending it back to base. Where the IP connection originates from is less relevant, which is what your VPN service masks.
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📌
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Thank you, from Toronto.
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📌
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