Privacy Market: Android SDKs may leak users' precise location to advertisers

The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) analyzed Android apps and found many third‑party advertising SDKs automatically inherit host app GPS permissions and, by default, capture and transmit precise location coordinates to ad networks and data brokers—often via real‑time auctions. Using network-traffic analysis and tools such as Exodus Privacy, researchers observed exact geographic coordinates being sent and named vendors including InMobi and Huawei. The report identified apps with a combined 60 million downloads and notes SDK providers claim reach across billions of users via tens of thousands of apps. Play Store privacy disclosures frequently fail to reveal this third‑party sharing, and developers may be unaware because disabling SDKs' default collection requires explicit code changes and documentation is unclear. EFF warns these sold location datasets pose serious privacy risks and calls for better developer practices and regulatory safeguards.