Previously there was only the fear of the “transparent Internet user” - now it is a reality: According to ICCL, the spy tool Patternz evaluates millions of RTB data and thus threatens the security of individuals, many companies and even governments. According to ICCL, what looks like an advertising analysis tool is being used for dangerous purposes.
It doesn't just sound scary - it's what the Irish Council for Civil Liberties (ICCL) has discovered. The so-called Real-Time Bidding (RTB) system is intended to guide online advertising worldwide as it auctions off advertisements in real time to the highest bidders. Every user on the web, whether ordinary citizens, employees, self-employed people, politicians and all their relatives, can be seen and assessed through the evaluation of RTB data.
Real-Time Bidding (RTB) data misused
The RTB data is openly available worldwide. The use of the data often goes in completely different directions: Google, for example, openly sends this data to China and Russia. The ICCL has published two reports (“Europe's hidden security crisis" and "America's Hidden Security Crisis"), which show how extremely sensitive information about important EU and US personalities and military personnel is leaked to foreign states and non-state actors via the Real-Time Bidding (RTB) system of online advertising. This system is active on almost all websites and apps.
In the EU and the USA, the analysis of RTB data is prohibited by the GDPR or GDPR and is punished. Of course, this does not stop foreign actors or cyber attackers from evaluating and exploiting the data. The problem with RTB data has been known since 2018. Experts are of the opinion that the GDPR even has the basis to ban real-time bidding – RTB completely.
Risk to EU and US military personnel and political leaders
The ICCL examined tens of thousands of pages of RTB data and discovered targeted data on sensitive US and EU military personnel and politicians, as well as judges, supply managers and other key figures. The ICCL report reveals Cambridge Analytica-style psychological profiling of targets, as well as their movements, financial problems, mental health issues and vulnerabilities.
Foreign states and non-state actors can use RTB to spy on targets' financial problems, mental health, and threats to confidential secrets. Even if targets use secure devices, data about them can be transmitted via RTB from personal devices, their friends, family, and compromising personal contacts.
Spy tool Patternz in use
The ICCL reports also reveal “Patternz,” a previously little-known surveillance tool that RTB uses to profile five billion people, including the driving routes of individuals and their children. Patternz is marketed by a private company headquartered in Kokhav Ya'ir, Israel. In his speech today, Dr. Johnny Ryan, ICCL Senior Fellow:
“The RTB industry’s free flow of data has created a serious national threat. We call on the US Federal Trade Commission, European data protection authorities and the European Commission to act urgently. Industry cannot be allowed to put our elected leaders and military personnel at risk.”
Patternz is advertised as a tool on the web
The Company ISA SECURITY – ISA the Israeli Security Academy & technologies openly promotes its product online saying: “We help national security agencies identify audience patterns and user behavior using data mining and analytics for digital advertising. PATTERNZ enables national security agencies to leverage real-time and historical data generated by user advertising to detect, monitor and predict user actions, security threats and anomalies based on user behavior, location patterns and mobile usage characteristics.”
More at ICCL.ie
About ICCL
The Irish Council for Civil Liberties (ICCL) is an Irish non-profit organization dedicated to supporting the civil liberties and human rights of people in Ireland and the rest of the world.