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Churches, mosques, synagogues: data traffickers endanger believers in Germany
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Religious people can be spied on using freely available cell phone location data from the advertising industry. netzpolitik.org found more than a million location data at places of faith in free preview data. Experts warn of a risk of religiously motivated violence.
St. Nikolai is the university church of the city of Göttingen. The simple Gothic sacred building stands out on the campus of the Georg-August University, surrounded by hornbeams whose leaves turn golden yellow and red in autumn. We see the movement profile of a person coming and going here in October and November 2023. She can be found again and again in the church, occasionally also in the oldest Catholic church in Göttingen, St. Michael, and in the associated parish office.
In the evening, the data trail leads to a residential building in the northeastern district of Nikolausberg. An entry in the telephone book reveals exactly who lives at this address. As a believer, the person living here might be used to the idea that God sees everything. Does she have any idea that we can also follow her steps?
With cell phone location data from data brokers, members of religious communities can be tracked wherever they go. The data traded openly on the Internet was allegedly collected only for advertising purposes. But they show the movement profiles of believers, sometimes with an accuracy of just a few meters.
More than a million location data from places of faith
Those affected include visitors to churches, places of Jewish life such as synagogues, community centers and schools, as well as places of Muslim life such as mosques. The data also shows who regularly goes in and out of the buildings of leading religious associations, such as the German Bishops' Conference, the headquarters of the Evangelical Church of Germany or the Central Council of Jews.
This is shown by research by netzpolitik.org in data sets that data brokers sent us as a preview for subscriptions. This free data alone already contains more than a million cell phone location data from places of Christian, Muslim and Jewish faith in Germany.
Given the easy availability of such sensitive data, experts warn of risks of discrimination and religiously motivated violence. The Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution, for example, sees an increased risk for people who are already at risk of becoming the target of espionage, threats or physical attacks. Representatives of religious organizations are calling for better protection and an end to data trafficking.
Cell phone tracking in synagogues and Jewish schools
Both right-wing and Islamisthttps://www.verfassungsschutz.de/SharedDocs/pressemitigungen/DE/2024/p...anti-Semitic enemy images. In order to prevent attacks and attacks, there are special ones for many places of Jewish life in Germanyhttps://www.bmi.bund.de/DE/themen/demokratie-gesellschaft/gesellschaftli.... However, cell phone location data from the advertising industry can target people who regularly visit such places, as our research shows.
One such place is, for example, the synagogue of the Jewish community in Halle. Onhttps://mediendienst-integration.de/news/5-jahre-nach-dem-anschlag-in-ha.... October 2019A right-wing extremist terrorist tried in vain to break in to kill those present. Before the police caught him, he injured other people on the street and in a snack bar and murdered two people; the acts were racially motivated.
The cell phone tracking from the data sets available to us shows, for example, the movement profile of a person who has visited the synagogue in Halle several times, dated to the year 2023. The track of the tracking leads, among other things, to a private address and a supermarket for Eastern European food in Halle. Violent criminals could use such data to plan attacks and scout targets.
Another movement profile from the data sets belongs to a person who visited the New Synagogue in Berlin several times. The building is standinghttps://www.tagesspiegel.de/berlin/israelgehender-ubergriff-an-der-ne...Police protection. According to the data, the person tracked was also on the premises of a police training center. They show further locations at a playground and a daycare center.
In Munich, the movement profile of a tracked person leads from the center of the Israelite religious community to a private address. A trip to Lake Constance can also be seen from the data. Attackers could use this information to track down people of Jewish faith.
From the free preview data sets that we have available alone, a dense network of cell phone locations can be created across the whole of Germany. It covers virtually every busy corner of the country. As an example, we checked three Jewish schools for cell phone tracking - and also found what we were looking for. This means that teachers, parents and children at Jewish schools can also be tracked using commercial cell phone location data.
How seemingly harmless data becomes a danger
Since 2024, netzpolitik.org has been researching the series together with Bayerischer Rundfunk and international partnershttps://netzpolitik.org/databroker-files/">DatabrokerFileson the uncontrolled data trading of the advertising industry. The award-winning research showed, among other things, how easy it is to use the datahttps://netzpolitik.org/2025/databroker-files-datenhaendler-verkaufen-me...EU officialsandhttps://netzpolitik.org/2024/databroker-files-firma-verhurt-36-mil...Government employeesbe spied on. Also the behavior of people who are athttps://netzpolitik.org/2024/databroker-files-wie-datenhaendler-deutschl...or onhttps://netzpolitik.org/2024/databroker-files-wie-datenhaendler-nato-und...military basesare active, could be seen. In view of hybrid threats, experts and politicians warn of a danger to thehttps://netzpolitik.org/2024/databroker-files-wie-datenhaendler-deutschl...Security.
However, everyone who has ad-supported apps on their smartphones is at risk. Not only location data, some of which is accurate to the meter, but also information about people's preferences and interests flow through a huge, opaque network of companies. The apps usually ask for consent to use such data for advertising purposes. However, once collected, companies can also use the sensitive data for other purposes. Some of them sell them as merchandise.
The time-stamped location data allows conclusions to be drawn about the private lives of the people being tracked. Accumulations of cell phone tracking reveal private home addresses and workplaces, trips to daycare, the hospital, on vacation - or even visits to a place of worship.
In the EU, personal data revealing religious beliefs are particularly protected, at least on paper.https://dejure.org/gesetze/DSGVO/9.html">Article9The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) fundamentally prohibits their use. However, exceptions are possible if express consent is given. In practice, however, this protection does not apply, as our research shows.
We now have more than five billion cell phone location data from Germany alone, for which we have not paid a cent. These data sets are now several years old; However, the data brokers' business continues. In contrast to our previous research, for this article we refrained from directly contacting the people appearing in the data.
Cell phone tracking in mosques that have already been the target of attacks
Muslims are also regularly the target of violence and attacks in Germany because of their faith.https://www.bpb.de/themen/rechtsextremismus/dossier-rechtsextremismus/50...andhttps://www.bpb.de/themen/infodienst/302514/was-ist-antimuslimischer-ras...racismare widespread in society. According to figures from the Integration Media Service, it was average last yearhttps://mediendienst-integration.de/rassismus-und-antisemitismus/antimus...five and a half daysto an attack on a mosque.
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Berlin's largest mosque, the Şehitlik Mosque in Neukölln, has already been a target several timeshttps://www.morgenpost.de/berlin-aktuell/article104886919/Brandanschlag-...awbecome. The data we have shows, among other things, the movement profile of a person who has visited the mosque several times. The locations lead, among other places, to a Turkish breakfast restaurant, a furniture store and a university. Attackers could use this information to explore the person's life pattern and use it to plan a violent act.
The DITIB mosque in Dresden was also the target of an attack. The laterhttps://www.spiegel.de/politik/deutschland/dresden-fast-zwei-jahre-haft-...convicted of attempted murderThe perpetrator detonated homemade pipe bombs in front of the building in 2016. The imam and his family were unharmed. We also have cell phone location data from this location. For example, they lead from the mosque to a student residence.
Last but not least, commercial cell phone location data can also be used to spy on visitors to the DITIB Central Mosque in Cologne. Right-wing extremists had in 2007https://taz.de/Rechte-Dummheit/!284384/">in vaintriedto prevent the construction with a citizens' initiative. The cell phone tracking provides insight into the life of a person who repeatedly visited the mosque. They lead to private addresses in Cologne, to supermarkets and a gas station; A trip to Aachen can also be considered.
The location data we have shows movement patterns of countless other people who have visited places of Muslim life in Germany. All of them could become targets because of data that is supposedly collected only for advertising purposes and squandered by data brokers.
Data trading “significantly exacerbates threat”
The Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution deals, among other things, with right-wing extremist, anti-Semitic and Islamophobic violence in Germany. “Location data offered on the Internet poses a threat to people’s privacy and can potentially have an impact on their security,” says the domestic secret service in response to our research. “For people who are already at risk, this increases the risk of becoming a target of espionage, threats or even physical attacks.” However, the authority has not yet been able to determine any systematic use of location data against people of Jewish, Muslim and Christian faith.
The non-profithttps://www.amadeu-antonio-stiftung.de/ueber-uns/">Amadeu-Antonio-Stiftu...campaigns against right-wing extremism, racism and anti-Semitism. Una Titz deals with digital threats to democracy for the foundation. With regard to the research on the location tracking of believers, she says: "Even the knowledge that such options exist can unsettle and intimidate people. Anyone who has to expect digital tracking when visiting a synagogue, mosque or community event loses trust and security."
Right-wing extremist actors routinely use things like doxxing or public information about events to intimidate people. “Trading in precise location data significantly exacerbates this threat,” writes Titz. “Protection concepts for facilities at risk urgently need a comprehensive digital overhaul.” The responsibility lies with politicians, authorities, platforms, app providers and the advertising industry.
The press offices of the Central Council of Jews and the Central Council of Muslims in Germany did not comment on the research when requested.
The headquarters of the EKD and the German Bishops' Conference are also affected
In Hanover, around 200 people work for the central administrative authority of the Evangelical Church of Germany (EKD). Cell phone tracking from the advertising industry can turn the stages of your everyday life into an open book. For example, the location data we have shows how a person travels to the church office during normal office hours on a day in 2023 and where they apparently spend their lunch break.
After work, we first go to the neighboring Herrenhausen Gardens, a baroque complex with thousands of plant species, a 70 meter high fountain and sculptures. This is followed by a detour to a shopping center with clothing stores such as Peek and Cloppenburg. In the evenings, the detections increase in an apartment building near the Protestant Apostle Church in Hanover.
In Hamburg there is the main church of St. Michaelis, where the EKD chairwoman regularly preaches. Cell phone location data reveals details about the lives of church visitors there. A movement profile shows mobile phone locations of a person not only in the church, but also in the Elbphilharmonie, in an allotment garden and at a private address in Hamburg-Neustadt.
The movements of employees of the German Bishops' Conference in Bonn are also crystal clear. A person who visited the administrative headquarters on several days was also located in front of the St. Winfried Catholic Parish Office in Bonn-Südstadt and on the grounds of the neighboring Johanniter Hospital. Further locations lead to a somewhat remote agricultural operation.
Meter-precise location data also reveals something about people in specialist clinics. For example, there is detailed cell phone tracking in the Catholic Alexianer St. Joseph Hospital in Berlin-Weißensee. They show the movements of a person who repeatedly visits the acute ward with a focus on bipolar affective disorders. She also spends a lot of time at two private addresses in Berlin. One of the two addresses is probably her place of residence, because she goes shopping nearby several times. Further locations show them in front of an elementary school.
The example shows that even just a few days of cell phone tracking can provide information about work, place of residence and family situation.
Former chairman of the German Ethics Council is “shocked”
Data on health status, sexual orientation or religious beliefs are particularly protected in Europe for good reason, explains the Protestant theologian and ethicist Peter Dabrock in an interview with netzpolitik.org. “They provide information about highly personal elements of one’s own personality.” Dabrock researches at the Friedrich-Alexander University Erlangen-Nuremberg and was chairman of the German Ethics Council until 2020.
The special protection of sensitive data implements the constitutionally guaranteed principle of equality: “Everyone must have the right that such information does not influence how they are perceived and treated publicly.”
In addition, this data is associated with particular vulnerabilities because it could form the basis for discrimination. “Where there is vulnerability, there are also points of attack,” explains the professor. Looking at the Databroker files, he says: “I am really shocked at the depth of the surveillance.”
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Become part of this unique community and support our public interest-oriented, advertising- and tracking-free journalismhttps://netzpolitik.org/spenden/?via=rss">nowwith a donation.
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German Bishops’ Conference: “Significant danger”
In response to the research, the German Bishops' Conference also warns against the business of data brokers. “The trade and unlawful use of cell phone location data and movement profiles of believers pose a significant danger,” writes spokesman Matthias Kopp. At least in combination with other data, the identity of a believer could be determined and insights into their private life could be gained.
“The misuse of such a highly personal date carries an increased potential for danger for the person concerned: the risk of discrimination, blackmail and profound injury to the inner, identity-forming foundation of the person,” writes Kopp. Religious beliefs make up the “core essence of a person” and thus touch their innermost being. If people with a certain religious belief are monitored, discriminated against or exposed to targeted physical attacks, the fundamental right of religious freedom is affected.
The criticism from the Association of German Catholic Youth (BDKJ) is even more fundamental. Press spokesman Christian Toussaint writes with regard to the Databroker research: "According to Christian values and Catholic teaching, it is clear that technology must always be a helpful tool for people. Business models in which people become simple trading objects are fundamentally incompatible with human dignity."
The responsibility for protecting one's own privacy should not be passed on to the individual user. “There needs to be consistent enforcement of laws that protect people from the misuse of their data,” writes Toussaint. “Business models that are based exclusively on the trading of personal data such as location data must fundamentally be questioned.” If users do not benefit from others selling and reusing their data, “such trading should be prohibited.”
An EKD spokesman sees the protection of location data as a “social concern as a whole”. In addition to media literacy on the part of users, there is a need for “clear legal rules that enforce data economy”.
Data protection authorities are scratching the surface
Our research into the data broker files since 2024 shows: Europe's data protection laws, especially the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), are failing to stop dangerous data trading. Data brokers and tracking companies involved usually describe their business as legal and rely on the alleged consent of those affected.
Data protection authorities and data protection experts, including the former German Federal Commissioner for Data Protection, Louisa Specht-Riemenschneider, see things differently. According to them, the trade is illegal. According to the GDPR, consent to the processing of personal data must be informed in order to be effective. Users must therefore find out who exactly receives their data and for what purposes. But in the ecosystem of data traders, cell phone location data sometimes flows to hundreds of players. The purpose limitation provided for by the GDPR is also not fulfilled if data is circulated as a commodity without a specific purpose.
Anyone who blatantly violates the GDPR should actually get in trouble with data protection authorities. But that onehttps://netzpolitik.org/2025/databroker-files-im-dschungel-der-datenhaen...the data brokeris international and intertwined. Authorities that are often underfunded only scratch the surface. They often only take action when citizens complain about certain companies. While authorities sometimes pursue years-long proceedings against individual companies, trade continues to flourish.
In order to get to the root of the problem, the Chaos Computer Club, the Federal Association of Consumer Organizations and some politicians are calling for ithttps://netzpolitik.org/2024/databroker-files-us-senator-schaltung-pentag...of tracking and profilingfor advertising purposes. In this way, data trading could simply run out of supplies. The EU Commission would have an opportunity for such a ban in the planned onehttps://netzpolitik.org/2026/digital-fairness-act-eu-kommission-erwaegt-...for digital fairness(Digital Fairness Act). Recently, however, the signs in the EU are pointing more towards deregulation. Such deep intervention in digital business models seems unlikely.
Security authorities would rather use data trafficking than stop it
In the course of our research, politicians in Germany and the EU made it clear across party lines: data trading is a threat to national security. Even government and parliamentary personnel, the military, police and secret services can be screened. The data can be used for espionage and sabotage.
At the end of last year, researcher Thorsten Wetzling from the non-profit think tank interface told us: "Especially at a time when the European security and defense landscape is being tested daily by Russia for possible attack vectors, it is extremely worrying that sensitive location data continues to be so easy to acquire on the data market to such an extent."
https://netzpolitik.org/2026/grosse-ard-doku-achten-datenhandel-lebensg..., data trading! Danger to life!
To date, however, there has been a lack of sufficient political will to stop data trading. On the contrary: Since the first publications about the data broker files, there have been increasing reports that security authorities in the EU prefer to use the illegally traded cell phone location data themselves instead of stopping its distribution. The technical term for this ishttps://netzpolitik.org/2024/databroker-files-adint-gefaehrliche-spionag...(“advertising-based intelligence”), loosely translated: the acquisition of insights based on advertising data.
security authorities inhttps://netzpolitik.org/2026/vor-schicksalswahl-orban-regierung-soll-neu...andhttps://netzpolitik.org/2026/millionendeal-mit-ueberwachungsfirma-regier...Austriahave purchased appropriate monitoring tools. The State Criminal Police Office inhttps://netzpolitik.org/2026/daten-schwarzmarkt-deutsche-polizei-nutzt-o...has confirmed the use of commercial cell phone location data following research by netzpolitik.org and Bayerischer Rundfunk. It is possible that even more police authorities in Germany are doing this - in nine federal states and also in the federal government, the authorities refuse to provide any information on the subject.
So the supposedly harmless advertising tracking and uncontrolled data trading continue unhindered. Meanwhile, online marketplaces are supposed to support data tradinghttps://netzpolitik.org/2024/databroker-files-datarade-gescha...make; ADINT companies are also advertising for customers in Europehttps://netzpolitik.org/2026/angebot-an-lvmh-gefaehrliches-ueberwachungs...outside security authorities. And the danger posed by data trafficking – not just for people of faith and members of minorities – grows the easier the data is to obtain.
Here we have written down how users use theirhttps://netzpolitik.org/2025/databroker-files-sieben-wege-um-deinen-stan...Protect from data brokerscan. And here are all ourshttps://netzpolitik.org/databroker-files/">VerPublications about the Databroker Files.
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The work of netzpolitik.org is financed by donations from our readers.
Become part of this unique community and support our public interest-oriented, advertising- and tracking-free journalismhttps://netzpolitik.org/spenden/?via=rss">nowwith a donation.
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