The data broker made famous for selling location data related to abortion clinic visits has signed a contract with the US Air Force and plans to provide information about “sensitive places” and “adversary state-owned enterprises” around the world, according to records obtained by WIRED. The company, SafeGraph, told the military that its data can be used for “analyzing human activity for landing zone selection,” as well as to identify hospitals, schools, and houses of worship to “help avoid collateral damage.”
As part of a $74,888 “Phase 1” contract with AFWERX, the “innovation wing” of the Air Force, SafeGraph discussed its products with multiple Air Force end-users between November 2022 and February 2023. At the end of the contract, SafeGraph told officials that it had identified several potential customers and planned to adapt its products for larger military partnerships later this year.
SafeGraph did not respond to multiple requests to comment.
In a Google form submitted to the Air Force after its Phase 1 contract ended on February 12, 2023, SafeGraph submitted a slide deck, a one-page marketing pitch, and answers to a series of questions about its experience and plans for future work with the US Department of Defense. The records primarily describe the military needs SafeGraph hopes to fill.
The thrust of the slide deck is SafeGraph’s ability to provide data about the affiliation of, and activity around, physical locations across the globe. And SafeGraph appears to believe its data is suitable for use in the Air Force’s most high-stakes decisions. On one slide, titled “Defense Need—Identify Sensitive Places to Avoid,” the company explains that its data can “help avoid collateral damage” by identifying hospitals, schools, embassies, and houses of worship. Another record claims it can “Build a No-Strike List at Machine Speed.”
Air strikes on “sensitive places” and civilians have happened repeatedly during US military action in the 21st century. In 2015, US air strikes accidentally destroyed a Doctors Without Borders hospital in Kunduz, Afghanistan, killing more than 40 people; a 2021 drone attack in Kabul killed 10 civilians, including seven children, and was called a “tragic mistake” by US officials. A trove of Pentagon documents assessing the thousands of civilians killed by US bombing in the Middle East point to faulty intelligence and breakdowns in surveillance. Now, SafeGraph is proposing that its location data, historically intended for marketers and hedge funds, can help limit that kind of catastrophic collateral damage.