X-Mode

Former provider of mobile location data that was shut down due to privacy violations

X-Mode Social, Inc. was a location data intelligence company that specialized in collecting precise geolocation data from mobile applications and selling it to advertisers, marketers, and government contractors. Founded in 2013, the company embedded its SDK in numerous mobile apps to harvest location data from millions of users' smartphones, creating detailed movement patterns and audience insights. The company faced significant scrutiny over privacy practices, leading to its ban from Google Play Store and Apple App Store in December 2020 for violating their data collection policies. Following these actions and mounting regulatory pressure, X-Mode was acquired by Digital Envoy (a subsidiary of Comcast's FreeWheel) in 2021. The acquisition effectively ended X-Mode's operations as an independent entity, with its technology and assets absorbed into Digital Envoy's location intelligence offerings. The company's controversial practices and subsequent shutdown became a notable case study in the mobile advertising industry regarding the limits of location data collection and the importance of user privacy protections.