NSA location tracking makes the phone usage “insecure” and NSA officials acknowledged that geolocation functions are enabled by design and are essential to mobile communications. The officials also admit that the recommended safeguards are impractical for most users.
But these features come at a cost. Adversaries may be able to tap into location data that app developers, advertising services, and other third parties … store in massive databases. Adversaries may also subscribe to services locations of customers collected by … cellular carriers.