SCOOP: The U.S. Military is buying user location data harvested from a Muslim prayer app that has been downloaded by 98 million people around the world, is using this type of data for "counterterrorism" https://www.vice.com/en/article/jgqm5x/us-military-location-data-xmode-locate-x

The app, called Muslim Pro, collects user location data to tell them what time to pray and which direction Mecca is in. It then sells that data to a company called X-Mode, which sells to U.S. military contractors

We found a parallel system in which a company called Babel Street sells directly to U.S. Special Operations Command. Source familiar told us that they were able to deanonymize people and "play" with the data

The companies and apps that are doing this - which include a Craigslist app I was using until I edited this story, a level app, a Muslim dating app, a storm weather app, among others - largely said they don't give a shit what happens with the data

in tests, @josephfcox was able to intercept his location data going directly from a test phone to data brokers to confirm this is still going on