Truthout: New Campaign Aims to Flood Churches and Christian Colleges With Pro-Israel Ads 

In an interview with RS, Megan Iorio, Senior Counsel at the Electronic Privacy Information Center, described geofencing as a “privacy nightmare.” Iorio explained that data brokers vacuum up data from various applications that use location services, and then will either sell that data to marketing firms or offer marketing tools themselves. Then, users with location services enabled might, for instance, see an H&M advertisement if they walk within a certain radius of an H&M store. 

Schnitger said that media reports covering the geofencing campaign have been “sensationalized” and pointed out that it’s a common marketing tool; “It is not sending information back to a foreign entity; it’s a way to deliver ads … This is a 1-way ad push using marketing tools that have been in place for over 10 years.” Iorio explained that while it is commonplace, the technique is “incredibly invasive.” 

“The fact it has become so common and that foreign governments are now using it for targeted, precise influence campaigns shows how much we need regulation to stamp down on the practice. Today, it’s the Israeli government looking to curry favor among Christians, but tomorrow it could be a foreign adversary looking to foment discord in a specific US city, and that has broad national security implications.” she added. 

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