Cybersecurity — 2026-04-11

Citizen Lab Exposes Webloc: Ad-Based Surveillance System Tracking 500 Million Devices Used by US and Hungarian Agencies

Citizen Lab published research revealing Webloc, an advertising-based geolocation surveillance system developed by Israeli firm Cobwebs Technologies (now Penlink), capable of tracking 500 million mobile devices globally through data harvested from consumer apps. Customers include ICE, the US military, Texas DPS, multiple US police departments, and Hungarian domestic intelligence. The tool enables warrantless location monitoring up to three years retroactively. In March 2026, 72 US lawmakers called for an investigation into warrantless location data purchases by federal agencies.

Analysis
Webloc's customer list, including ICE, US military, Texas DPS, multiple police departments, and Hungarian intelligence, reveals a global market for warrantless location tracking. The Orbán connection is politically charged on the eve of Hungarian elections. The 72-lawmaker call for investigation in March suggests the congressional response is accelerating ahead of the Citizen Lab report's full impact.
3 sources
  1. Uncovering Webloc: An Analysis of Penlink's Ad-based Geolocation Surveillance Tech - Citizen Lab
  2. Citizen Lab: Law Enforcement Used Webloc to Track 500 Million Devices via Ad Data - The Hacker News
  3. Orbán's Spying Kit Revealed: Israeli Surveillance Tool Combined with Hungarian Technology - VSquare

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