Anomaly 6: Private spying firm targets global population with illegal spyware | Hacker News Reader

Anomaly 6: Private spying firm targets global population with illegal spyware

thegrayzone.com

92 pointsefface41 comments

The wikipedia article seems to spell it all out concisely:

> "The company purchases cell phone location data from advertisers who in turn get the information from embedded software development kits (SDK) in commonly used phone applications. The publishers of apps frequently allow third parties to insert SDKs into their apps for a fee. Some of the apps have Anomaly Six’s own SDK embedded in them. This system often relies on disclosures in the complex terms of service that must be agreed to in order to use an application. Most apps' privacy policies do not disclose whether or not SDKs are embedded in their product."

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anomaly_Six

Okay, now we need a lawyer to find the explicit legal language in the terms of service agreements that give the necessary legal cover to the app manufacturer and distributor to install SDKs...

Ah yes, the "it's not malware because technically you agreed to it" defense. "Legitimate companies" with their "legitimate interests".

Or is it intelligence agencies pretending to be legitimate companies.

Bingo: "The company, which was founded by a pair of US military intelligence veterans..."

The problem is finding which apps have the SDK embedded in an SDK when the apps are proprietary.

The very few proprietary apps I have are installed on a separate profile of my Graphene phone, and they are given very few permissions. I sometimes use rotating burner SIM's to thwart the telcos and never make calls with the SIM. I am pretty sure I am in the >1% of people taking these precautions, which is why Anomaly 6 has the location of almost everybody else.

I love how understated (or frankly clueless) these articles are. You should just assume that every mobile phone is reporting high accuracy (< 10m) location information at all times of the day, from tens to thousands of times a day, to a variety of aggregators. Essentially they are little snitches and we are all rats in a maze to their panopticon.

There's a significant difference from an advertiser learning a little too much about me to the government tracking my every move. Of course, there are risks, but it is beyond the pale for our own governments to be utilizing these tools in this way and this article puts the focus squarely on this part of the problem.

In any case.. I wonder if the solution to all of this is just noise. Our devices should be generating 10x the fake data as it does real data, then we can just salt the information landscape for good and make it useless to try to capture value here.

I used to think privacy was the way, but it's proving more and more impossible to do. I know think that this is the way, begin to generate fake data tons of it all the time, the best defense is a good offense, if we can decrease the signal to noise ratio sufficiently then they can no longer use it, and no I don't have any moral qualms with it because they started the war.

They are the ones who have caused only 1 in 30 emails I receive to be actually something I wanted or find use in. They are the ones who made it so I can no longer use a phone as a communication device within anyone I don't already know. They are the ones sending me random texts and losing my data all over the place, the only way to solve this is to burn back, the politicians won't help they're in bed with all these actors.

If you want a good place to start this add on https://adnauseam.io/ Ad Nasueam is a good place to start, it functions as an add blocker but it also launches a click on every single add that pops up anywhere. If anyone has any other false data generating sources it would be much appreciated.

We need to fight back.

EDIT: Forgot another one http://trackmenot.io/ Track Me Not, it issues random queries to search engines to obsfucate data, when you combine it with adnaseum it is a pretty little counterintel tool.

Those look like some great tools, but unfortunately I don't think either of them help to obfuscate your location which is the main product of Anomaly 6.

To thwart telcos, you can use https://invisv.com/ or rotate burner SIMs from Mint or Ting. To thwart the OS level tracking we have many alternate OS such as Graphene, Postmarket, and Linux. For app level SDK's which are the primary vector used here, primarily use FOSS apps such as those from fdroid.org and treat any proprietary apps with extreme caution.

You can do all that or just opt out. Neither one seems to me to be particularly more burdensome. I grew up without these mobile devices, they are not necessary, just convenient.

Unfortunately due to the 3rd party doctrine most of it is a distinction without a difference. Do I feel the same way about an advertiser knowing my whereabouts all the time as I do the FBI or even local PD? No. But because the latter can legally purchase the information from the former my intuition is potentially wrong.

> There's a significant difference from an advertiser learning a little too much about me to the government tracking my every move

No, there isn't, because the government buys that data.

Or I could assume a corporation that wants my business won't purposefully violate my boundaries and prove themselves untrustworthy.

Another case of US veterans (both military and "intelligence" agency) helping push the envelope on surveillance tech. Becoming a very disturbing trend.

I also found https://www.vice.com/en/article/z3vjxj/anomaly-6-six-special... (March 2021).

Google?

Clicks link

Oh, Anomaly 6 is the name of the company, not the sixth of some number of anomalies indicating possible spying.

Something about this story (or rather; disconnected collection of claims) doesn't read well. Can't put my finger on it though. Maybe it's just not great writing.

## Better Sources About Anomaly Six

- Official site: https://www.anomalysix.com/ (practically nothing here)

- (The Intercept) https://theintercept.com/2022/04/22/anomaly-six-phone-tracki...

- (Court Case Filed against Anomaly Six by Babel Street) https://techinquiry.org/docs/A6-Babel-MoFo.pdf

- (WSJ) https://www.wsj.com/articles/u-s-government-contractor-embed... (article hidden behind paywall, explainer video at top of page is not)

- (Vice) https://www.vice.com/en/article/z3vjxj/anomaly-6-six-special... (credit to OP for posting this in a comment)

Vice:

> Anomaly Six software lets its customers browse all of this data in a convenient and intuitive Google Maps-style satellite view of Earth. Users need only find a location of interest and draw a box around it, and A6 fills that boundary with dots denoting smartphones that passed through that area. Clicking a dot will provide you with lines representing the device’s — and its owner’s — movements around a neighborhood, city, or indeed the entire world.

WSJ:

> Anomaly Six LLC a Virginia-based company founded by two U.S. military veterans with a background in intelligence, said in marketing material it is able to draw location data from more than 500 mobile applications, in part through its own software development kit, or SDK, that is embedded directly in some of the apps. An SDK allows the company to obtain the phone’s location if consumers have allowed the app containing the software to access the phone’s GPS coordinates.

## Why The Grayzone may not be the best source:

- (Axios) https://www.axios.com/2020/08/11/grayzone-max-blumenthal-chi...

- (.coda) https://www.codastory.com/disinformation/grayzone-xinjiang-d...

- (The Grayzone top 12 stories in 2020) https://web.archive.org/web/20210129111336/https:/thegrayzon...

- (Australian Strategic Policy Institute) https://s3-ap-southeast-2.amazonaws.com/ad-aspi/2021-03/Stra...

Quotes from above article by ASPI (page 8):

> The Grayzone is one fringe news source, and its reach has been amplified by Chinese and Russian state-affiliated entities. Between December 2019 and February 2021, The Grayzone was cited in English at least 252 times in Chinese state-owned news outlets (the Global Times, CGTN and Xinhua) and a further 61 times in People’s Daily Online articles. Before December 2019, we could find no mentions of The Grayzone by Chinese media outlets in either English or Chinese. Peak total shares of The Grayzone articles on Twitter and Facebook also coincided with their amplification by Chinese state media outlets (Figure 6).

> The Grayzone’s top 12 stories of 2020 include accusations that Xinjiang forced labour stories are falsified by the US Government and the military–intelligence complex to drive a new Cold War (note: this included criticism of ASPI and the Center for Strategic and International Studies). The founders of The Grayzone have been interviewed by Chinese state media outlets, including the Global Times and CGTN, and have been featured on Russian state media outlets RT and Sputnik Radio.

Please bear in mind that the site this is on appears to be a Russian propaganda machine. This story may have some validity to it - I haven't investigated yet - but a quick browse of the front page consists primarily of anti-ukraine conspiracy pages.

Not sure why you were downvoted. From what I can tell, you aren't wrong. The site has a history of alignment with Kremlin and Beijing interests. (ref: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Grayzone)

This particular story doesn't seem egregious however. Thinking the worst, I can speculate how it might support a western surveillance state narrative. A too often accurate narrative, unfortunately.

addendum: The columnist seems kind of colorful. ref: https://twitter.com/KitKlarenberg

My vibe is he pubs where he can and isn't uncomfortable with authoritarian groups. ref: https://muckrack.com/kit-klarenberg

The Grayzone is a fully independent reader funded site publishing articles that often challenge US and British government media stories. They have no affiliation or loyalty to China or Russia.

untrue

Max Blumenthal (born December 18, 1977) is an American journalist, author and blogger who is the editor of The Grayzone website, which is known for spreading conspiracy theories and engaging in denial of atrocities committed by dictatorial regimes.[2][3][4][5][6] He was a writer for The Nation, AlterNet,[7] The Daily Beast, Al Akhbar, and Media Matters for America,[8][9] and has contributed to Al Jazeera English, The New York Times and the Los Angeles Times.[8] He has been a writing fellow of the Nation Institute.[10] He is a regular contributor to Russian state-owned Sputnik and RT, and has been accused of spreading Russian propaganda.[11][12][13]

This is such a bullshit take on the GrayZone, which does great work (that yes, goes often against the mainstream views as force-shoved down peoples mind-throats). The fact that you then link Muckrack tells me you are not an honest actor, or interested in the truth.

> This is such a bullcrap take on the GrayZone, which does great work (that yes, goes often against the mainstream views as force-shoved down peoples mind-throats).

I noted the site's history of publishing stories that aligned with Kremlin and Beijing interests - which is not any kind of comment of the quality of the content. It is interesting that you felt it was.

> The fact that you then link Muckrack tells me you are not an honest actor, or interested in the truth.

I keyworded the author's name on DDG and the Muckrack result popped up. That's my history with Muckrack. Their bio page had lots of sites where the author published; it listed more sites of publication than anyone else. That's why I linked it.

Based on this, you assert that I am dishonest and infer I am untruthful. Did you come to this conclusion because I failed to signal in a way that makes you feel safe?

I'll stick with Wikipedia: Max Blumenthal (born December 18, 1977) is an American journalist, author and blogger who is the editor of The Grayzone website, which is known for spreading conspiracy theories and engaging in denial of atrocities committed by dictatorial regimes.[2][3][4][5][6] He was a writer for The Nation, AlterNet,[7] The Daily Beast, Al Akhbar, and Media Matters for America,[8][9] and has contributed to Al Jazeera English, The New York Times and the Los Angeles Times.[8] He has been a writing fellow of the Nation Institute.[10] He is a regular contributor to Russian state-owned Sputnik and RT, and has been accused of spreading Russian propaganda.[11][12][13]

Wikipedia is one of the main targets for astroturfing campaigns. You might as well be saying "I prefer to be propagandized"

Exactly! That skeeze Jimmy Wales is on record going after them himself.

> The site has a history of alignment with Kremlin and Beijing interests.

Critiques of US policy do not imply support for Russian or Chinese policy. Explanations of Russian or Chinese rationale in responses to US actions are not the same as condoning those responses.

Sun Tzu says, know your enemy; how can you know your enemy if you don't even know how they think? This kind of analysis is important for understanding how geopolitics proceeds, and quickly illuminates the ways that state actors act to prolong profitable conflicts, since the responses to certain actions are obvious and inevitable in the grand scheme.

Discomfort in the face of critique is not proof that those critiques are invalid...

I, for one, as a US citizen, would rather the US address its own issues so that others don't have standing to criticize its policies and actions. Obviating propaganda is way more effective than censoring it, and for these kinds of critiques almost surely improves quality of life and GDP for its own citizens.

> Max Blumenthal (...) who is the editor of The Grayzone website (...) is a regular contributor to Russian state-owned Sputnik and RT

Oh well.

OMG, he contributed to Sputnik and RT? Totally a Kremlin asset. Can’t wait for all the CIA assets who contribute to VoA, NPR, etc. to get outed on Wikipedia too. Oh wait, but we’re the “good” guys, so it’s different, right? Right?

"I haven't investigated yet". Clearly. As your attack on the site's credibility appears to be based on nothing more than their dogged questioning of the dominant US narrative about the US proxy war against Russia.

Hello Margarita Simonyan.

So clever you have to resort to attacking the commenter instead of the substance. Nice. Exactly like the people who claim the Grazyzone is a front for the Kremlin/Beijing/etc with zero evidence.

Hmm. This poster uses the exact same arguments Margarita regularly makes on Russian "news" channels to justify the bombing of children, the rape and murder of women, the destruction of civilian infrastructure, and the other crimes against humanity that Russia is engaged with.

10/10 match.

As for the investigation, this is what it popped up with:

You choose to interpret pointing that out as an attack.

Ooooh! He has contributed to Sputnik and RT! Must be a Kremlin spy, just like everyone who contributes to NPR and VoA is a CIA asset. Get a clue.

As an alternate source, here's a story that the WSJ did on Anomaly Six in 2020: https://archive.ph/lcuvc

thegrayzone.com seems like it could be a front for Russian agitprop

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