Your Phone and Data Brokers

The Washington Post published M. Scaturro, Your phone knows you’re at the doctor, and data brokers are profiting from it – The Washington Post (Oct. 28, 2026).

The article describes how data brokers use cell phone data, writing: “Chris McQueen finished treatment for leukemia a year and a half ago, but the ads for fake cures never stopped….  Juice cleanses to cure cancer, ‘natural’ cancer treatments, clinics in Mexico promising full recovery with little chemotherapy — all appeared on McQueen’s mobile phone during routine oncologist visits and monthly bloodwork.”

It adds that “many people might not realize that when they are sitting in a hospital, an abortion clinic, or an Alcoholics Anonymous meeting in a church basement, the location data emitted from their mobile phones isn’t covered by the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA), which protects patient privacy.”

The article states that there is a call for more States or Congress to ban such tracking. As to the current status, the Post reports:

In January, Consumer Reports released model legislation giving state lawmakers a framework to ban or limit the sale of geolocation data, which uses GPS to identify a person’s movements in real time. Connecticut, Delaware, Maryland, New Jersey, Oregon and Virginia have already banned the sale of precise geolocation data. But digital advertisers have also lobbied states to block such proposed limits.

In response, the data brokers argue that location data itself is not sensitive. Id.  “Advertising trade groups say that targeted advertising saves consumers time and lowers the cost of searching for products, while also allowing websites and apps to offer digital services without paywalls or subscriptions.”

One anti-tracking  solution offered in the article is to limit apps that track data. Another is to put phones in airplane mode when visiting sensitive locations.  “At least 20 states allow their residents to demand that data brokers delete their personal data, but typically consumers must file requests with individual data brokers. California has a centralized portal for requesting such opt-outs, at privacy.ca.gov/drop/.”

The Washington Post article gives step-by-step instructions for iPhones and Android phones.

For more information, please visit:

• Where Oh Where Did My Data Go?  A Data Broker? – E-Discovery LLC (Apr. 16, 2026);
• Geofencing, Geotargeting, and Geo-blocking, in Civil Litigation, Information Governance, and Regulation – E-Discovery LLC (Sep. 10, 2025);
• “FTC finds ‘staggering’ level of user surveillance by social media, streaming services” – E-Discovery LLC (Sep. 26, 2024);
• Data Collection by Cars With Connectivity – E-Discovery LLC (Sep. 17, 2024).