Dive Brief:

• Geofeedia, a firm that collects real-time social media geolocation data, has been suspended by Facebook, Instagram and Twitter after it was uncovered law enforcement groups used the tool to track activists and protesters according to reporting by Mashable.
• The American Civil Liberties Union of North California (ACLU) revealed that it uncovered police use of Geofeedia’s tool in a blog post published yesterday.
• The firm didn’t deny that law enforcement groups were among its customer base, but the ACLU pointed out that the tool’s surveillance capabilities were in conflict with the three social media platform’s policies.

Dive Insight:

Geolocation is a powerful marketing tactic, particularly with mobile marketing giving advertisers and marketers the ability to target an audience based on location with highly personalized messaging and offers. At the same time, the average smartphone user with GPS enabled on the device might not realize exactly how much information they are constantly providing via their mobile carrier as well as via social media platforms that actively keep track of user location.When this data is coupled with the wealth of other information available about users on social media sites, the result can be a very accurate picture of an individual's activities. 

News of Geofeedia’s close business relationships with law enforcement agencies might bring more light to the privacy tradeoff mobile device users engage in by actively making use of convenient smartphone features like GPS tracking.

The news also highlights the challenges social media networks face as they grow and become an integral part of users' lives. If consumers start to believe these companies are not protecting their sensitive data, they could defect in large numbers. 

“This developer only had access to data that people chose to make public," Facebook wrote in a statement provided to Mashable. "Its access was subject to the limitations in our Platform Policy, which outlines what we expect from developers that receive data using the Facebook Platform. If a developer uses our APIs in a way that has not been authorized, we will take swift action to stop them and we will end our relationship altogether if necessary.”

Geofeedia also released a statement that it operated with transparency and that it had policies in place to avoid inappropriate use of its software.