Cellphone data collected for advertising was provided to government agencies

Digital advertising company Mobilewalla disclosed it indirectly provided data to the Department of Homeland Security, the Internal Revenue Service, and other government entities to track mobile phones without warrants, The Wall Street Journal reports. In a letter to U.S. Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., whose office is investigating location brokers, Mobilewalla said its data was sold to Gravy Analytics and provided to federal agencies by a subsidiary. “Selling mobile device data for use by law enforcement agencies is not our business model,” Founder, Chairman and CEO Anindya Datta said.