U.S. Senator Ron Wyden's office documented, in an official press release, that an anti-abortion organization (The Veritas Society) used cell-phone location data obtained via Near Intelligence to target misinformation about reproductive health at visitors of roughly 600 Planned Parenthood locations across 48 states, and that a Near official separately confirmed the company also provided Americans' location data to a defense contractor supplying the Defense Department and U.S. intelligence agencies.
Azira's privacy policy (Azira LLC being the current operator of the location-data business built by Near Intelligence, whose assets it acquired) states it collects precise latitude/longitude geolocation data, sourced in part from 'Third Party Data Providers and Ad Exchanges' rather than directly from the end user, to enable customers to deliver personalized, location-targeted advertising.
Near Intelligence, Inc.'s own SEC Form 8-K (filed under CIK 0001826671) states that on December 8, 2023, the company and its subsidiaries (Near Intelligence LLC, Near North America, Inc., and Near Intelligence Pte. Ltd.) filed voluntary Chapter 11 bankruptcy petitions in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware; the location-data business was subsequently acquired by and continues to operate as Azira LLC.
Azira's privacy policy explicitly discloses that it sells or shares Identifiers/Biographical Information, including mobile advertising identifiers (MAIDs), stating: 'We may sell unique personal identifiers to Azira customers for targeted advertising, measurement, matching, or similar services; and to third parties for marketing and advertising purposes, including social media platforms, advertising networks, data brokers, or similar third parties.'
U.S. Senator Ron Wyden's office documented, in an official press release, that an anti-abortion organization (The Veritas Society) used cell-phone location data obtained via Near Intelligence to target misinformation about reproductive health at visitors of roughly 600 Planned Parenthood locations across 48 states, and that a Near official separately confirmed the company also provided Americans' location data to a defense contractor supplying the Defense Department and U.S. intelligence agencies.
The same privacy policy states the operator and its third-party analytics and tracking partners 'may use a variety of technologies, such as cookies, tags, SDKs, or scripts' to collect information about visitor activity, and separately discloses collection of mobile advertising identifiers (MAIDs) tied to devices.