Gravy Analytics Hack Exposes Sensitive Location Data from Millions of Smartphones

The breach highlights privacy risks as hackers leak data from apps, raising national security concerns and prompting user safety recommendations.

Hackers breached Gravy Analytics, leaking a sample of over 30 million location data points, with claims of possessing 10 terabytes of data covering billions of points globally.
The stolen data includes sensitive locations such as the White House, Kremlin, Vatican City, and military bases, with potential to identify individuals and track movements.
The data was collected through apps using real-time bidding for ads, often without users' or app developers' knowledge or consent, exposing privacy vulnerabilities.
The NSA and security experts recommend disabling location tracking, limiting app permissions, and resetting advertising IDs regularly to reduce exposure to similar breaches.
The breach follows a recent FTC ban on Gravy Analytics collecting and selling location data without consent, underscoring ongoing risks in the data brokerage industry.