Investigation finds location data of EU officials for sale in Brussels

A joint investigation by European media outlets revealed that data brokers are selling the supposedly anonymous location data of EU officials in Brussels. Journalists, posing as employees of a marketing firm, obtained hundreds of millions of data points, enabling them to re-identify at least five people working for the EU, three of whom hold high-level positions. Other phone locations identified included NATO sites and Belgian military bases.

While the EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) allows the collection of such data with user consent, the investigation showed that combining anonymous location data points can lead to re-identification. In response to the "worrying conclusions," the European Commission has issued new guidance to its staff on ad-tracking settings on business and home devices and has informed other EU bodies and institutions. 

A similar investigation in Ireland in September prompted the Irish Data Protection Commission (DPC) to suspend the activities of an Irish data broker.

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