App Taps Unwitting Users Abroad to Gather Open-Source Intelligence

Note that the article calls them:

"one of a growing number of companies that straddle the divide between consumer services and government surveillance and rely on the proliferation of mobile phones as a way to turn billions of devices into sensors that gather open-source information useful to government security services around the world."

Who else does this? Also, for those who want a sense of the scope of this app:

"In one pitch on its technology, prepared in 2019 for Combined Joint Special Operations Task Force-Afghanistan, Premise proposed three potential uses that could be carried out in a way that is "responsive to commander's information requirements": gauge the effectiveness of U.S. information operations; scout and map out key social structures such as mosques, banks and internet cafes; and covertly monitor cell-tower and Wi-Fi signals in a 100-square-kilometer area. The presentation said tasks needed to be designed to “safeguard true intent”—meaning contributors wouldn’t necessarily be aware they were participating in a government operation."

and

"submitted a document last July to the British government describing its capabilities, saying it can capture more than 100 types of metadata from its contributors' phones … including the phone's location, type, battery level and installed apps"

They also do work for businesses.

This seems a highly unethical app. Most governments will (correctly) regard the users as spies and will treat them accordingly. I think that most users do not fully comprehend what the app does.

The following seems particularly shady:

> Data from Wi-Fi networks, cell towers and mobile devices can be valuable

> to the military for situational awareness, target tracking and other

> intelligence purposes.

I really doubt that all users understand the risk they are taking.