For Muslims, Even Prayers Aren't Private

We generate droves of personal data every time we use the apps on our phones, make a call, make an online purchase. We all hope that data is kept private, hidden away from people or entities that might want to surveil us, but sometimes it isn’t.

In November, news reports revealed that the federal government had purchased location data mined from apps used by Muslims. One of those apps is a prayer app called Muslim Pro, which has been downloaded by millions. We don’t yet know exactly how the data is being used, but many users of the app have already reported deleting it to avoid being surveilled.

Aliya Karim, a journalist at NowThis, and Tarek Ismail, a senior staff attorney at the CUNY School of Law’s Creating Law Enforcement Accountability and Responsibility Project, join us to discuss.