Anomaly Six
 | |
| Industry | Media intelligence |
|---|---|
| Founded | 2018 |
| Founders | Former military intelligence officers Brendan Huff and Jeffrey Heinz |
| Headquarters | Alexandria, Virginia, U.S. |
| Products | Location data products |
| Website | www |
Anomaly Six (A6) is a media intelligence company. It sells global-location-data products to the United States government and the private sector. The company has embedded its software in over 500 mobile applications, giving it the ability to track hundreds of millions of mobile phones.[1][2] In one presentation, the company claimed it could track 3 billion phones in real time.[3]
History
[edit]The company was founded in 2018 by two former military intelligence officers. It is based in Alexandria, Virginia.[3]
The company purchases cell phone location data from advertisers who in turn get the information from embedded software development kits (SDK) in commonly used phone applications.[3] The publishers of apps frequently allow third parties to insert SDKs into their apps for a fee.[1] Some of the apps have Anomaly Six’s own SDK embedded in them. This system often relies on disclosures in the complex terms of service that must be agreed to in order to use an application.[3] Most apps' privacy policies do not disclose whether or not SDKs are embedded in their product.[1]
In September 2020, U.S. Special Operations Command Africa, an operational unit of the United States Special Operations Command, paid Anomaly 6 $589,500 for a "Commercial Telemetry Feed". This is the first reported contract between the United States government and Anomaly 6.[2]
In April 2022, it was revealed that the company had demonstrated its surveillance ability by tracking the mobile phones of members of the CIA and NSA. The company revealed the tracking during a meeting between A6 and Zignal Labs. The two companies were in talks to discuss a potential partnership, which they decided not to proceed on.[4][3]
References
[edit]- ^ a b c Tau, Byron (August 7, 2020). "U.S. Government Contractor Embedded Software in Apps to Track Phones". The Wall Street Journal.
- ^ a b Cox, Joseph (March 30, 2021). "U.S. Special Operations Command Paid $500,000 to Secretive Location Data Firm". Vice Media. Archived from the original on June 5, 2022. Retrieved April 24, 2022.
- ^ a b c d e Biddle, Sam; Poulson, Jack (April 22, 2022). "American Phone-Tracking Firm Demo'd Surveillance Powers by Spying on CIA and NSA". The Intercept. Archived from the original on June 5, 2022. Retrieved April 24, 2022.
- ^ Ropek, Lucas (April 22, 2022). "Surveillance Firm Reportedly Tracked NSA and CIA Spies as Product Demo". Gizmodo. Archived from the original on June 5, 2022. Retrieved April 24, 2022.