When data broker SafeGraph got caught selling location information on Planned Parenthood visitors, it had a public relations trick up its sleeve. After the company agreed to remove family planning center data from its platforms in response to public outcry, CEO Auren Hoffman tried to flip the narrative: he claimed that his company’s harvesting and sharing of sensitive data was, in fact, an engine for beneficial research on abortion access. He even argued that SafeGraph’s post-scandal removal of the clinic data was the real problem: “Once we decided to take it down, we had hundreds of researchers complain to us about…taking that data away from them.” Of course, when pressed, Hoffman could not name any individual researchers or institutions.
SafeGraph is not alone among location data brokers in trying to “research wash” its privacy-invasive business model and data through academic work. Other shady actors like Veraset, Cuebiq, Spectus, and X-Mode also operate so-called “data for good” programs with academics, and have seized on the pandemic to expand them. These data brokers provide location data to academic researchers across disciplines, with resulting publications appearing in peer-reviewed venues as prestigious […]
Content was cut in order to protect the source.Please visit the source for the rest of the article.
Read the original article:
