How Targeted Advertising Gives Your Location to the Government episode artwork

EPISODE · Mar 11, 2026 · 42 MIN

How Targeted Advertising Gives Your Location to the Government

from EFFector · host Hudson Hongo, Christian Romero, Lena Cohen, Saira Hussain

We've all had the unsettling experience of seeing an ad online that reveals just how much advertisers know about our lives. You're right to be disturbed. Those very same online ad systems have been used by the government to warrantlessly track peoples' locations, new reporting has confirmed. This week, we're talking about how advertising surveillance enables government surveillance. We're also discussing a victory for protesters seeking to hold police accountable and a troubling conflict over the Department of Defense's use of AI. EFFector is a podcast by the Electronic Frontier Foundation, the leading nonprofit defending online civil liberties. Become an EFF member today at https://eff.org/podfan.

Episode metadata supplied by the publisher feed · Published Mar 11, 2026

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We've all had the unsettling experience of seeing an ad online that reveals just how much advertisers know about our lives. You're right to be disturbed. Those very same online ad systems have been used by the government to warrantlessly track peoples' locations, new reporting has confirmed.

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How Targeted Advertising Gives Your Location to the Government

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