A New York Times investigation has uncovered a massive location database containing detailed information about the movements of more than 12 million Americans, and the trove is likely only one of many such repositories. 

The paper detailed the discovery in a lengthy article published this morning. The database came from an unnamed location data company and was leaked to the Times by sources who asked to remain anonymous. It contains more than 50 billion individual location logs collected via mobile apps over several months from 2016 to 2017, with the bulk of the information captured in a handful of major U.S. cities such as New York.

What’s arguably even more alarming than the size of the data trove is the fact that the records can apparently be matched to specific individuals. Each of the 50 billion or so location logs in the repository corresponds to a point on a map and these points line up to reveal the day-to-day movements of users, such as the path they take from their workplace to their homes. These paths are often unique enough that it’s possible to extrapolate the identity of the person from whose device the information originated. 

The Times found that the leaked database contains information on the movements on at least one senior Defense Department official, law enforcement officers, prominent lawyers and countless other individuals. Some of the location pings were captured in sensitive areas such as the Pentagon.

The issue likely goes beyond the single dataset seen by the Times. There are dozens upon dozens of location data companies that provide insights about consumers’ movements to brands and advertising agencies, while mobile apps, the most common source of this information, don’t always properly inform users about the extent to which they’re being tracked.

Just this week, Facebook Inc. disclosed to Congress that it estimates users’ location even when they opt out of tracking in the settings menu of its mobile app. The Weather Co., owned by IBM Corp., is being sued by the city of Los Angeles for allegedly selling user location data harvested by its app to firms in the financial sector.

Today’s revelation might bring more scrutiny to the relatively low-profile location data industry, which may sooner or later start feeling the growing regulatory pressure being directed at the tech sector.

The issue of apps tracking users’ locations without their consent or knowledge could potentially become a particular focus since major tech players such as Facebook are involved. The social network is currently the subject of a multistate antitrust investigation that will among other look into potential privacy violations. 

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