You may not have heard of the X-Mode social company, but its code may be in some apps on your phone, tracking and selling your location data. Now, Google and Apple are trying to stop this. According to an article in the Wall Street Journal, technology companies have asked developers to remove the X-Mode code from their applications, or risk removing them from their respective utility stores. X-Mode works by developing code called SDK in their applications, which monitors users’ location, sends that data to X-Mode, and sells it. In return, X-Mode pays the developer a certain amount based on how many users are in the application. The company says its technology is in more than 400 applications, including a number of apps designed for Muslim users, which remind users when to pray, and a Muslim-centric dating app. Apple gives developers two weeks to remove the SDK, and gives Google Doves a week with the ability to apply for a 30-day extension. But tracking users’ locations and selling data is nothing new: X-Mode may have been banned, and according to the motherboard, it is also being sold to the US military. When you consider the fact that the biggest applications that use X-mode are designed for many Muslims, you will understand why this is relevant. Of course, government services that buy citizens’ location data are nothing new, but most of the time they buy it from brokers, who collect information from a variety of sources, not directly from companies that collect it. For its part, X-Mode claims to be isolated, which “collects mobile application data like most advertising SDKs”. To wrap this up with a PSA: X-Mode and other companies, you can only get your location data when permission is granted. Apps often do not clarify whether your location data goes into X-mode (it may or may not be buried in an EULA), but every app on iOS and Android should ask permission to see your location. If your status application (as it is, the tool you use to ensure that an image is not distorted) asks for permission for your location, it is important to think about whether it is actually needed. Of course, this will not protect you in cases where dating has a real reason to use your location (such as a dating app), which is why it’s a good idea to start with Apple and Google and some lawmakers to look harder at how companies sell user data. Americans are sick and tired of anyone misusing their data with a check book. Apple and Google deserve credit for doing the right thing here, but much more work remains to be done to protect the privacy of Americans. https://t.co/AirdebtLFx— Ron Wyden December 10, 2020