by Joseph Cox, Activist Post:
A section of the Navy bought access to a tool that gave the Pentagon “global” surveillance data via an adtech company that is owned by a U.S. military contractor, according to a Navy contract obtained by 404 Media. Beyond its global scale, the document does not explicitly say what specific sort of data was included in the sale. But previous reporting from the Wall Street Journal has shown that the marketing agency and government contractor responsible are part of a supply chain of location data harvested from devices, funneled through the advertising industry, onto contractors, which then ends with U.S. government clients.
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The news provides one of the clearest examples yet of how the online advertising industry is not just fertile ground for surveillance, with myriad companies harvesting sensitive data from peoples’ phones and computers and selling that information ultimately to law enforcement, but also one that is actively being exploited by military agencies.
Specifically, the document points to a product called “the Sierra Nevada nContext Vanir software tool.” The contract covers a number of different areas, including support and training, both remotely and at the contractor’s facility; two months of access to the tool for “evaluation and assessment;” and “intelligence and analytical support.” The Navy paid $174,941.37 for access to the data, according to the contract.
At the bottom of one section of the document, the Navy writes that the contract should include historical and current data for “one large region + three small regions.” It then adds the Navy also wants “Global 90 day and real-time data.”
404 Media obtained the document through a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request. The Navy Office of Information declined to answer a series of questions 404 Media sent about the contract, and instead wrote in an email “unfortunately there is nothing more we can comment on this contract.” The Navy did confirm that the document is “the final, fully executed” award.
One entity mentioned in that contract description is particularly important: “nContext.”
A Contractor in Disguise
On its website, the digital marketing agency nContext describes itself as “a tightly-knit team of data scientists, digital marketers, and engineers.” According to testimonials on the site, nContext’s previous clients include SPI Entertainment, an outfit behind Las Vegas shows; the Mann Center, a performing arts center in Philadelphia; Lumenis, a medical technology company; and Intrigue Shows, another entertainment company. nContext says it has “made millions in revenue for its customers through advertising and strategic support.” On the face of it, nContext is a very ordinary looking adtech firm.
But in October, the Wall Street Journal reported that nContext was a wholly owned subsidiary of Sierra Nevada Corporation (SNC), citing incorporation documents. SNC is a U.S. government contracting giant whose voluminous work expands a wide range of sectors and missions across the military. Last month SNC announced the U.S. Army selected it to provide intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR) aircraft which the company had converted from business jets in a deal worth $554 million. SNC also builds combat aircraft for the Air Force and works on cyber and electronic warfare systems for the Army. This year marks the company’s 60th anniversary. Perhaps most famously, Sierra Nevada won a NASA contract to develop the Dream Chaser, a space plane that will run resupply missions to the International Space Station. SNC spun off the division that makes the Dream Chaser into an independent company called Sierra Space in 2021.
