Overview
- Investigative partners obtained free sample datasets used to solicit subscriptions, including roughly 278 million Belgian smartphone location records from periods up to July 2025.
- Each record carried a Mobile Advertising ID that linked points into detailed movement profiles capable of revealing homes, workplaces and sensitive visits without naming individuals.
- Analysis identified several high-ranking Brussels figures, including staff of the European Parliament and the EEAS and a diplomat, with 5,800 points from 756 devices at Parliament and 2,000 from 264 devices at the Commission.
- The datasets logged thousands of pings at sensitive sites, including 9,600 geolocations from 543 devices at NATO’s Brussels headquarters, underscoring clear security risks.
- The European Commission issued new guidance on ad-tracking settings for corporate and private devices and alerted security bodies, as privacy officials warn only a statutory ban would curb the trade.