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Johnny Ryan @johnnyryan.bsky.social · 1d

The U.S. FTC chair said that ICCL's report on the national security threat of RTB data was the impetus for the FTC's investigation and enforcement against the data broker Mobilewalla collecting RTB location data www.iccl.ie/digital-data...

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Johnny Ryan @johnnyryan.bsky.social · 1d

The DPC is even contradicted by RTB's own technical specification.
Note latitude, longitude, GPS data, IP address, etc...
github.com/InteractiveA...

github.com

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Johnny Ryan @johnnyryan.bsky.social · 1d

The DPC is also contradicted by the U.S. Federal Trade Commission.
The recent FTC decision on notorious data broker "Mobilewalla" states plainly that data brokers collect location data from RTB.
www.ftc.gov/policy/advoc...

Unpacking Real Time Bidding through FTC’s case on Mobilewalla

The FTC recently

www.ftc.gov

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Johnny Ryan @johnnyryan.bsky.social · 1d

In fact European authorities - including the DPC - have confirmed that RTB does indeed expose people’s location data and movements to data brokers in a binding Article 60 Decision.

See Art 60 Decision of 2/2/2022, EDPB, para 515 www.edpb.europa.eu/system/files...

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Johnny Ryan @johnnyryan.bsky.social · 1d

We told the DPC about this. It has known for years.
But yesterday it released this in a statement - perhaps in an attempt to absolve itself from the location scandal shown on national TV recently.
The statement is incorrect.

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Johnny Ryan @johnnyryan.bsky.social · 1d

Screenshot from their website shows where a person is, and where they were on what previous days.
Google and other major RTB players are shown as sources for their worldwide data.
www.iccl.ie/wp-content/u...

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Johnny Ryan @johnnyryan.bsky.social · 1d

After 8 years of inaction, the DPC now claims that RTB adtech does not provide location data to dodgy firms.
Wrong.
Meet "Patternz" for example:
An Israeli surveillance tool built on RTB data that provides a targeted individual's coordinates and "driving path" www.iccl.ie/wp-content/u...

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Johnny Ryan @johnnyryan.bsky.social · 4d

So many examples of these data being dangerous

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Johnny Ryan @johnnyryan.bsky.social · 4d

resources are not necessarily the problem bsky.app/profile/john...

Johnny Ryan @johnnyryan.bsky.social · 20d

The Data Protection Commission has cost the Irish taxpayer €162.3 million since it was first informed of the RTB data breach in 2017.

See table --> www.iccl.ie/wp-content/u...

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Johnny Ryan @johnnyryan.bsky.social · 5d

This is madness. Our data are being broadcast at enormous scale, to countless parties, without any security. It is time to enforce against the central RTB players.

Read our report on why this is a national security crisis --> www.iccl.ie/digital-data...

Europe's hidden security crisis

How data about European defence personnel and political leaders flows to foreign states and non-state actors

www.iccl.ie

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Johnny Ryan @johnnyryan.bsky.social · 5d

And he says the DPC says it has started to investigate a single data broker concerned, and contacted another authority too.

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Johnny Ryan @johnnyryan.bsky.social · 5d

And he says people should stop clicking consent spam popups - despite the fact that one can not lawfully obtain consent to a data free-for-all.

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Johnny Ryan @johnnyryan.bsky.social · 5d

But his answer is not to rebuke the DPC's refusal to act on RTB since 2017. Instead he says people should switch off location on their phones (immaterial if IP address is used for location);

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Johnny Ryan @johnnyryan.bsky.social · 5d

This peculiar and alarming.

Labour leader @ivanabacik.bsky.social Ivana Bacik asks Justice Minister Jim O'Callaghan what he has done to ensure the DPC finally acts against the data free-for-all that sends people's movements to countless data brokers.

vimeo.com/1124123069?f...

Irish Minister for Justice asked about RTB data by Labour Leader in Parliament

1 October 2025 source https://video.oireachtas.ie/hourly/dail/dail_20251001T1200.mp4

vimeo.com

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Johnny Ryan @johnnyryan.bsky.social · 6d

My speech at the European Parliament: rather than undermine the GDPR in its proposed "Omnibus", the European Commission should intelligently apply the GDPR as a tool for European competitiveness, national security, and protecting children online.

www.iccl.ie/digital-data...

Use data law to protect children, national security, and competitiveness, Johnny Ryan tells European Parliament

Dr Johnny Ryan's speech at European Parliament on deregulation: Rather than undermine the GDPR in its proposed "Omnibus", the European Commission should intelligently apply the GDPR as a tool for Euro...

www.iccl.ie

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Johnny Ryan @johnnyryan.bsky.social · 12d

Arthur Schlesinger Jr. in 1948

"The only hope lay in the revival of democracy as a fighting faith"

archive.nytimes.com/www.nytimes....

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Johnny Ryan @johnnyryan.bsky.social · 12d

Significant

www.ft.com/content/3aac...

A new financial impetus for peace in Ukraine

We need the mobilisation of resources on a scale that will secure Kyiv’s military resilience

www.ft.com

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Johnny Ryan @johnnyryan.bsky.social · 13d

From @moonalice.com in The Guardian today www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

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Johnny Ryan @johnnyryan.bsky.social · 18d

In 2020 we handed the Minister for Justice & DPC evidence that that data on Irish victims of sexual abuse, of HIV/AIDS, and others were for sale from data brokers.

We warned that the DPC's refusal to act against the Real-Time Bidding data source since 2017 was the cause.
www.iccl.ie/wp-content/u...

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Johnny Ryan @johnnyryan.bsky.social · 18d

On @antonsavage.bsky.social NewsTalk Radio this morning:
We warned Helen McEntee (then Minister for Justice) five years ago about Data Protection Commission's refusal to stop the flow of data about Irish people to data brokers - as now exposed by RTE Prime Time.

www.iccl.ie/news/iccl-wa...

ICCL warned watchdog about sale of Irish sexual abuse survivors’ data in 2020 — but DPC and minister did nothing

In 2020, ICCL went undercover and purchased data identifying 200 Irish people tagged as survivors of sexual abuse. The findings were handed to the Data Protection Commission and the Minister for Justi...

www.iccl.ie

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Johnny Ryan @johnnyryan.bsky.social · 18d

New paper from OpenAI reportedly acknowledges that incorrect assertions are inevitable even with perfect data (I say reportedly because I have not read the paper yet)

arxiv.org/pdf/2509.04664

arxiv.org

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Johnny Ryan @johnnyryan.bsky.social · 18d

Cantillon in the mornings Irish Times

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Johnny Ryan @johnnyryan.bsky.social · 19d

This problem requires no new law. It requires a better DPC.

bsky.app/profile/john...

Johnny Ryan @johnnyryan.bsky.social · 20d

"Should a significant national security incident now occur as a result of RTB data we will be obliged to make this correspondence public and clarify where responsibility lies."

That day has arrived.

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Johnny Ryan @johnnyryan.bsky.social · 19d

In any case, after our legal battle all the way to Europe's highest court, the online ad industry's consent system will soon be kaput www.iccl.ie/digital-data...

EU ruling: tracking-based advertising by Google, Microsoft, Amazon, X, across Europe has no legal basis

Landmark court decision against “TCF” consent pop ups on 80% of the internet

www.iccl.ie

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Johnny Ryan @johnnyryan.bsky.social · 19d

The issue is not that people don't read terms and conditions.

1. The massive data free-for-all in online ads ("RTB") makes it impossible to obtain lawful consent. (See industry admission that RTB is incompatible with consent)

2. The DPC knew all of this since 2017 and refused to act.

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