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Pokémon Go location data captured by players is not being used to train military drones, Niantic Spatial has insisted.
The denial follows the publication of a report by Dutch outlet Trouw, which examined a recently-announced partnership between Niantic Spatial and Vantor, an intelligence company with links to the defence sector.
Niantic and Vantor are working together on technology that could allow people and vehicles — including ground-based machines such as bomb disposal robots, or aerial systems such as drones — to be able to pinpoint their location even in areas without reliable GPS. This would allow such vehicles to operate in remote locations without signal, or in situations where signal could be jammed.
The article alleged that this would be made possible using “30 billion” pieces of location data obtained from Pokémon Go players — and that while they were knowingly using their phone to capture video of their surroundings, they were unknowingly also contributing to military technology. “First you think you are playing a game, and then suddenly your data can be used in a war,” reads one eye-catching quote from Trouw’s article. But this is untrue, Niantic Spatial has insisted.
“While we have an agreement with Vantor, announced last December, it is still in its very early stages, and sharing this data is not part of the agreement,” a spokesperson for the company told IGN. “We are committed to working with all of our customers and partners to ensure that Niantic Spatial products are used in a responsible manner that upholds human rights and ethical principles.”
So, what is Niantic Spatial up to? A spokesperson described the partnership’s aim as building a “system capable of allowing a sensor to determine its position in the real world” to ensure “that a machine or people can share coordinates in real-time, even without a GPS signal.”
“Ground scans were one component to help train Niantic Spatial’s real-world foundation models — AI systems that learn to recognize and interpret physical spaces,” a spokesperson explained. “The models are the product of that training, not a copy of or a means of accessing the underlying scans, which were of public points of interest such as statues and fountains.”
Niantic recently announced a similar partnership with a delivery robot company, which is seeking to operate in dense urban environments where GPS data can be interrupted by high-rise buildings. Meanwhile, Vantor’s website suggests airborne capabilities are separate to Niantic’s involvement, which is for “ground-based” use only.
Other elements of the article also bear some explanation. When questioned about the supposed “30 billion” location scans that Niantic Spatial holds, IGN was able to ascertain that this figure relates to scans from various Niantic games (including the company’s original title, Ingress, which formed the basis for Pokémon Go’s location map), and counts the hundreds of individual video frames in each uploaded video separately.
Additionally, it’s worth noting that location scanning within Pokémon Go was always an optional side activity that only a fraction of its playerbase ever indulged in. The feature was also removed completely earlier this month, following last year’s sale of the company’s gaming portfolio to Saudi-owned Monopoly Go! publisher Scopely.
“Now as part of Scopely, Pokémon Go data is not shared with Niantic Spatial,” a spokesperson said. “AR Scans collected through Pokémon Go were submitted voluntarily by players who opted into the feature and were subject to the applicable Terms of Service and Privacy Policy at the time. The discontinuation of AR scanning and the end of data sharing with Niantic Spatial were part of the transition planning associated with Pokémon Go’s move to Scopely.”
Tom Phillips is IGN’s News Editor. You can reach Tom at tom_phillips@ign.com or find him on Bluesky @tomphillipseg.bsky.social
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https://www.ign.com/articles/no-pokmon-go-data-isnt-being-used-to-train-military-drones-niantic-spatial-insists
Tom Phillips
Almontather Rassoul
