An Israeli ad tech company called Discover-Tech has been linked to one of the broadest tracking efforts documented against users of Starlink, SpaceX's satellite internet service. Reuters reported the story on Tuesday in an exclusive based on six people familiar with the matter.
According to the report, researchers at TrendAI, a unit of Japanese cybersecurity company Trend Micro, concluded that Discover-Tech was one of the biggest sources of ads shown to Starlink users. The researchers believe the ads were likely used to geolocate users or otherwise surveil them.
Unusual scale
TrendAI's data shows the company was the number one bidder for Starlink traffic in more than 100 countries, including countries where the service is banned or restricted. TrendAI's October 15 report did not name the company. It described the party responsible only as "an ad tech entity" and gave it the codename Shadow-Earth-79. According to Reuters' sources, that codename refers to Discover-Tech. TrendAI declined to say why it did not name the firm.
How an ad becomes a tracking tool
Most online ads are sold in automated auctions that last a fraction of a second. To decide how much to bid, advertisers receive details about the user: device type, IP address, approximate location and the site being visited. A party that takes part in enough of these auctions can collect that data over time, cross-reference it with other sources and identify specific people. With Starlink, the data can be especially sensitive, because the service is also used in war zones and in countries where the internet is censored.
Not the first case
According to reports, the Citizen Lab research group also published findings about Discover-Tech on Tuesday, saying the company used targeted ads to help deliver spyware to devices, including at the Al Jazeera network. Israeli media have previously reported on local cyber companies developing the ability to locate and identify Starlink users around the world.
Discover-Tech and its chief executive did not respond to Reuters' requests for comment over more than two weeks, and SpaceX did not respond either. The link between the company and the findings rests on anonymous sources and on a report that did not name it, so these are allegations that have not been officially confirmed.
The bigger question
The case highlights a problem privacy experts have warned about for years: the digital ad system spreads data about users to thousands of parties every second, and there is almost no way to oversee what they do with it. For Starlink users in sensitive regions, that can mean exposing their location. For the Israeli tech industry, it is another case in which a local company is tied to the use of civilian tools for surveillance.
