Investigation: US military buys granular movement data of people around the world from a wide array of apps for Muslim dating, prayer, Craigslist, weather, more
VICEJoseph Cox
Context & Ripple Effects
This investigation maps the commercial supply chain behind a practice the military had kept quiet: instead of tasking satellites or intercepts, it simply buys phone coordinates from data brokers, who aggregate them from ordinary consumer apps. The Salaat First prayer app selling user locations to broker Predicio shows the upstream end of that same pipeline, where apps with tens of millions of downloads monetize precise GPS fixes.
Millions of app users worldwide — disproportionately Muslims using prayer and dating apps — have their granular movements collected and sold onward without meaningful consent, while the military acquires targeting-grade location intelligence outside the legal processes that govern signals intelligence.
Second-order effects
App developers and SDK vendors face reputational and platform scrutiny over embedding location trackers, and data brokers like Predicio become chokepoints whose customer lists and sourcing practices draw investigative and regulatory attention.
The same open market creates a counterintelligence hazard for the buyers: adversaries can purchase identical feeds to track US military and intelligence staff, turning a cheap collection advantage into an exposure problem.
Third-order effects
If procurement keeps substituting for collection under statute — location data here, internet telemetry via Augury — the boundary between commercial data markets and classified intelligence erodes, pushing toward data-broker regulation as a national-security issue rather than a privacy one.
The trend: Intelligence agencies are shifting from collecting raw signals to purchasing commercially aggregated personal data, a pattern that outpaces the legal frameworks built for interception.
SCOOP: The U.S. Military is buying user location data harvested from a Muslim prayer app that has been downloaded by 98 million people around the world, is using this type of data for “counterterrorism” https://www.vice.com/...
Muslim Pro, the Muslim prayer app with over 98 million downloads is one of the apps connected to a wide-ranging supply chain that sends ordinary people's personal data to brokers, contractors, and the military. I hate that I'm shocked but damn https://twitter.com/...
What the hell? A Muslim prayer app used by 100 million people has been selling location data to the US military for “counterterrorism.” https://www.vice.com/...
also p.s. @MuslimPro gonna use one of those duas you recommend to pray for your souls in the afterlife for selling out your community 💅🏽 https://twitter.com/...
While awaiting a response from the Muslim Pro, millions including me feel that the App has really let down. One of the essential apps I have been using for years. https://twitter.com/...
The military industrial complex and the surveillance state have always had a cozy relationship with tech. Buying bulk data in order to profile Muslims is par for the course for them - and is absolutely sickening. It should be illegal! https://twitter.com/...
I can't even begin to express how hurtful (and terrifying) this is. Muslims should have the right to access prayer times and the Quran without being subject to military surveillance fueled by an Islamophobic understanding of Muslims as a threat https://twitter.com/...
“[Muslim Pro] with over 98 million downloads is one of the apps connected to a wide-ranging supply chain that sends ordinary people's personal data to brokers, contractors, and the military.” Never struck me what a trove of data Muslim apps could be & how it could be weaponized. …
Damn I use this app for prayer times and the quran, but it's not telling the military anything they don't already know (my location etc) I just want for once the military to leave muslims alone https://twitter.com/...
This is wild and unacceptable. Download a Quran/prayer app and end up with your data sold to a counterterrorism unit of the US military. No Muslim app should be selling data, especially not like this. Wow https://www.vice.com/...
Worrying lack of transparency will only feed those rightly concerned about how Govt & Tech companies use their private data Time for a Universal Declaration of Digital Rights https://twitter.com/...
This is a HUGE deal for Muslims. So many people use this app for prayer times, Qibla direction, etc & they're selling location data that military & other contractors have access to. If you work at Muslim Pro & want to talk to me anonymously pls reach out to me. Signal # in bio. h…