Daily Archives: January 14, 2024

Dutch phones can be easily tracked online: ‘Extreme security risk’

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a map of the netherlands with cellphone towers

BNR received more than 80 gigabytes of location data from data traders: the coordinates of millions of telephones, often registered dozens of times a day.

The gigantic mountain of data also includes movements of people with functions in which safety plays an important role. A senior army officer could be followed as he drove from his home in the Randstad to various military locations in the country. A destination he often visited was the Frederikazerne, headquarters of the Military Intelligence and Security Service (MIVD). The soldier confirmed the authenticity of the data to BNR by telephone.

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The data also reveals the home address of someone who often visits the Penitentiary in Vught, where terrorists and serious criminals are imprisoned. A spokesperson for the Judicial Institutions Agency (DJI) confirmed that the person, who according to the Land Registry lives at this address, had actually brought a mobile phone onto the premises with permission and stated that the matter was being investigated.

These are just examples, the list of potential targets is long: up to 1,200 phones in the dataset visited the office in Zoetermeer where the National Police, National Public Prosecutor’s Office and Europol are located. Up to 70 telephones are registered in the King’s residential palace, Huis ten Bosch. At the Volkel Air Base, a storage point for nuclear weapons, up to 370 telephones were counted. The National Police’s management says it is aware of the problem and is ‘looking internally to see what measures are appropriate to combat this’.

‘National security implications’

BNR had two experts inspect the dataset. “This is an extreme security risk, with possible implications for national security,” says Ralph Moonen, technical director of Secura. “It’s really shocking that this can happen like this,” says Sjoerd van der Meulen, cybersecurity specialist at DataExpert.

The technology used to track mobile phones is designed for use by advertisers, but is suitable for other purposes, says Paul Pols, former technical advisor to the Assessment Committee for the Use of Powers, which supervises the intelligence services. According to Pols, it is known that the MIVD and AIVD also purchase access to this type of data on the data market under the heading ‘open sources’. “What is striking about this case is that you can easily access large amounts of data from Dutch citizens,” said the cybersecurity expert.

For sale via an online marketplace in Berlin

That access was achieved through an online marketplace based in Berlin. On this platform, Datarade.ai, hundreds of companies offer personal data for sale. In addition to location data, medical information and credit scores are also available.

Following a tip from a data subject, BNR responded to an advertisement offering location data of Dutch users. A sales employee of the platform then contacted two medium-sized providers: Datastream Group from Florida in the US and Factori.ai from Singapore – both companies have fewer than 50 employees, according to their LinkedIn pages.

Datastream and Factori offer similar services: a subscription to the location data of mobile phones in the Netherlands is available for prices starting from $2,000 per month. Those who pay more can receive fresh data every 24 hours via the cloud, possibly even from all over the world.

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Upon request, BNR was therefore sent a full month of historical data from Dutch telephones. This data was anonymized – it did not contain telephone numbers. Individual phones can be recognized by unique number combinations, a ‘mobile advertising ID’ used by Apple and Google to show individual users relevant advertisements within the limits of European privacy legislation.

Possibly four million Dutch victims of tracking

The precise origin of the data traded online is unclear. According to the providers, these come from apps that have received permission from users to use location data. This includes fitness or navigation apps that sell data. This is how the data ultimately ends up at Factori and Datastream. By combining data from multiple sources, gigantic files are created.

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it is not difficult to recognize the owners of individual phones in the data. By linking sleeping places to data from public registers, such as the Land Registry, and workplaces to LinkedIn profiles, BNR was able to identify, in addition to the army officer, a project manager from Alphen aan den Rijn and an amateur football referee. The discovery that he had been digitally stalked for at least a month led to shocked reactions. ‘Bizarre’, and: ‘I immediately turned off ‘sharing location data’ on my phone’.

Trade is prohibited, but the government does not act

Datarade, the Berlin data marketplace, informed BNR in an email that traders on their platform are ‘fully liable’ for the data they offer. Illegal practices can be reported using an online form. The spokesperson for the German company leaves open the question of whether measures are being taken against the sale of location data.

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Source (Google Translate): Dutch phones can be secretly tracked online: ‘Extreme security risk’ | BNR News Radio

Source (Dutch original): Nederlandse telefoons online stiekem te volgen: ‘Extreem veiligheidsrisico’

Swarovski’s smart binoculars identify the birds, butterflies, mammals, you’re looking at and mark something to share with whoever you give the binocs to next

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Swarovski has turned up at CES 2024 in Las Vegas with its first ever pair of smart binoculars that will identify the bird you’re looking at. All you have to do is point the gear at a bird and make sure the view is in focus, and then press down an action button. Within a few seconds, the system will overlay a bird’s name over your view, using data pulled from the Merlin Bird ID database. That has over 9,000 species tagged, and will even let you know the degree of certainty it has if the bird in question is in an unexpected location. And if this was the only feature these binoculars had, it’d be enough to justify the purchase, but that’s only the beginning of what these things can do.

Between the eyepieces, there’s a function wheel similar to one you would find on a camera that lets you cycle between various features. That includes a Wildlife ID version which hooks into its built-in Mammal, Dragonfly and Butterfly ID databases. Plus, there’s a camera which lets you send pictures and video to a paired smartphone, which would similarly be plenty to justify the expense. But the system is also designed to be expandable, with the focus wheel including space for any future custom databases you might need. For instance, one idea could be to build a database for stars, or airplane types for aviation fans to spot the make and model of what’s flying overhead.

Then there’s the discovery sharing feature, which enables you to share something you’ve found with whoever you’re outdoors with. All you need to do is tag whatever you’ve found, and then hand the AX Visio over to them, where a series of flashing arrows will guide them to where you were looking. Even in the busy halls of CES, one of the company’s representatives was able to pinpoint a far-off fire exit sign before handing me the binoculars and asking me to find it. All you need to do is follow the arrows straight to what you’re meant to be looking at with a system that’s as elegant as it is useful. There’s even a built-in compass that’ll let you identify which direction you’re gazing toward to help you navigate.

You might notice from the pictures that there are three lenses, with the central one holding the 13-megapixel sensor shooting HD-quality (1,920 x 1,080) pictures and video. There’s 8GB storage, which should hold up to an hour of video or 1,700 photos before needing to be cleared off. Beyond the smarts, the binoculars magnify up to 10x with 88 percent light transmission, thanks to the company’s high-end lenses. Swarovski says its glassware offers almost flat, distortion-free images with plenty of contrast and color fidelity.

Now, here’s the thing, my father-in-law is a serious ornithologist who is respected, at least among his peer group. His ability to spot the genus and species of a bird in flight is extraordinary and I’m often left bewildered at the depth of his knowledge. I don’t think I’d have the ability, patience or time to even get within a hundred miles of his capability. But, with a device like this, it might mean that I can at least vaguely keep up with him when we’re out on the trails.

The AX Visio is, however, not messing around with price, and Swarovski is charging €4,600 (around $5,000) for you to get this into your hands. While bird fans often have to be patient, this should start arriving at people’s homes at some point in February.

Source: Swarovski’s smart binoculars identify the birds you’re looking at