X-Mode social

Outlogic is the rebranded successor to X-Mode Social, a United States location-data company founded in 2013 by Joshua Anton. The business originated with Drunk Mode, a free mobile application Anton created while studying at the University of Virginia. The app was designed to discourage users from calling or texting while intoxicated. After the application achieved substantial distribution, Anton developed the idea of using a mobile application to collect location information and commercialize datasets derived from that information, leading to the creation of X-Mode Social. X-Mode’s core product was a software development kit, or SDK, that application developers could embed in their mobile applications. When installed and operating with the relevant device permissions, the SDK collected location-related information from smartphones and transmitted it to X-Mode. The company described its data as being assembled from several technical sources, including GPS, Wi-Fi networks, and Bluetooth signals detected by beacons. The resulting datasets were marketed for uses such as advertising, analytics, mobility analysis, and other forms of location intelligence. The company’s distribution model depended on partnerships with mobile-application developers. X-Mode paid developers to integrate its SDK, creating a revenue stream for applications that incorporated the tracking technology. The SDK appeared in applications across categories including games, travel tools, and dating services. Public descriptions of the business stated that the SDK had been used in applications from dozens of developers and that the resulting network reached tens of millions of active users. Users could generally limit or disable collection through operating-system permission controls, although critics questioned whether consent and disclosure practices were sufficiently clear and whether raw location data could reveal sensitive information. X-Mode also promoted public-health and government-related applications of its datasets. During the COVID-19 pandemic, the company demonstrated how aggregated or otherwise analyzed smartphone-location information could illustrate patterns associated with social distancing and the possible spread of infections. It also shared location information with federal agencies in connection with monitoring compliance with quarantine orders. These activities helped position the company as a provider of real-time mobility intelligence, but they also intensified concerns about surveillance, data brokerage, and the use of commercial location data by government bodies. The company attracted significant criticism in 2020 after reporting alleged that location data associated with Muslim Pro, a widely downloaded Muslim prayer application, had been transferred through X-Mode to a United States military intelligence contractor. Muslim Pro subsequently said that it would stop transferring data to X-Mode, and complaints were filed in France and the United Kingdom. Later reporting and investigations raised broader questions about the number of applications transmitting data, the adequacy of consent, and whether some applications sent information directly to data brokers without requiring the SDK. In December 2020, Apple and Google reportedly instructed application developers to remove X-Mode’s SDK or risk removal of their applications from the companies’ app stores. In January 2022, an investigation reported that applications in numerous countries had transmitted location data to X-Mode and that the SDK was not always the only technical route by which data reached the company. In January 2024, the United States Federal Trade Commission charged X-Mode and related parties with allegedly selling sensitive raw location data without obtaining adequate consumer consent and with lacking policies to exclude sensitive locations from data sold to customers. Digital Envoy acquired X-Mode in August 2021, after which the business was rebranded as Outlogic. T…

X-Mode Social was established in 2013 by Joshua Anton, who had previously created Drunk Mode while studying at the University of Virginia. Drunk Mode was intended to reduce unsafe calling and texting by restricting access to phone functions when users were intoxicated. Its large user base gave Anton the opportunity to explore whether information generated by a mobile application could be transformed into a commercial data product. X-Mode’s business was built around a mobile SDK distributed to application developers. Once integrated into an application and enabled under the applicable device permissions, the SDK could collect location signals from users’ smartphones. The company combined information from GPS, Wi-Fi, and Bluetooth-based detection to create datasets describing the movement and locations of devices. These datasets could then support advertising, audience analysis, geographic modeling, and other location-intelligence applications. The company paid application developers for incorporating the SDK, giving developers a financial incentive to participate. Its technology was used across a broad range of applications, including games, travel applications, and dating services. Public accounts described a network involving more than 70 developers and hundreds of applications, with tens of millions of active users. The scale of the network made X-Mode a notable participant in the mobile data-brokerage ecosystem, but also meant that questions about notice, permission, retention, and downstream use applied to a large population of smartphone users. In 2018, X-Mode approached Scruff, a dating service for gay and bisexual men, with an offer to pay for SDK integration. Scruff’s founder declined the proposal. The episode illustrated the company’s developer-acquisition strategy and the sensitivity of embedding location collection into applications whose users might reasonably expect a high degree of privacy. During the COVID-19 pandemic, X-Mode promoted location analytics as a tool for studying movement and public-health behavior. A company demonstration showed how location patterns could be used to model possible effects of inadequate social distancing. X-Mode also shared data with federal agencies in relation to quarantine compliance. These uses brought the potential public value of mobility analysis into tension with concerns about the expansion of commercial surveillance during a public-health emergency. The most consequential criticism emerged in late 2020. Reporting alleged that data from Muslim Pro had reached a United States military intelligence contractor through X-Mode. Muslim Pro announced that it would discontinue the transfer of data to X-Mode, and users or advocacy groups pursued complaints in France and the United Kingdom. The episode prompted wider scrutiny of the mobile-data supply chain, particularly the possibility that users of an application might not understand that their location information could be sold or transferred to government-linked customers. Apple and Google subsequently required developers to remove X-Mode’s SDK from applications distributed through their app stores. Further reporting in 2022 examined data transmissions from applications in numerous countries and alleged that certain applications could send location information to data brokers without relying solely on the SDK. In January 2024, the FTC announced enforcement action alleging that X-Mode sold sensitive raw location data without adequate consent and did not maintain appropriate safeguards for excluding sensitive places. Digital Envoy acquired X-Mode in August 2021 and rebranded it as Outlogic. The acquisition marked a transition from the X-Mode identity to a brand associated with Digital Envoy’s location-data operations. Because public reference material is more extensive for X-Mode Social than for the later Outlogic brand, the company’s history, products, controversies, and milestones are generally documented under the former name.

1. 2024Federal Trade Commission enforcement action

   The FTC charged X-Mode over alleged inadequate consent for sensitive raw location data and insufficient exclusion policies.

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2. 2022Investigation examines global application data flows

   An investigation reported location-data transmissions from applications operating in many countries and examined routes beyond the company’s SDK.

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3. 2021Acquisition and rebranding as Outlogic

   Digital Envoy acquired X-Mode in August and subsequently rebranded the company as Outlogic.

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4. 2020COVID-19 mobility analysis

   X-Mode used location datasets in a demonstration concerning social distancing, infection spread, and quarantine monitoring.

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5. 2020Mobile-platform scrutiny intensifies

   Reports concerning Muslim Pro data and subsequent action by Apple and Google brought the company’s SDK and data practices under heightened scrutiny.

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6. 2018Scruff declines an SDK integration offer

   X-Mode offered Scruff a payment to integrate its location library, but the dating service declined.

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7. 2013X-Mode Social is founded

   Joshua Anton founded X-Mode after developing the idea of commercializing location information generated by users of his Drunk Mode mobile application.

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A location-intelligence and mobile-data company supplying datasets derived from smartphone signals and embedded application software.

• X-Mode SDKMobile software development kit

  A software component embedded in third-party mobile applications. When enabled under device permissions, it transmitted location-related information to X-Mode. The SDK was distributed through partnerships with application developers and appeared in applications including games, travel tools, and dating services.

• Smartphone location datasetsLocation intelligence

  Datasets assembled from smartphone GPS information, Wi-Fi observations, and Bluetooth beacon signals. X-Mode positioned these datasets for advertising, analytics, mobility studies, and other commercial or institutional uses.

• Mobility and public-health analyticsData analytics2020

  Analytical applications of location data used to illustrate movement, social-distancing behavior, possible infection spread, and quarantine compliance. These uses became especially visible during the COVID-19 pandemic.

• 2020COVID-19 social-distancing demonstration

  United States

  X-Mode demonstrated how smartphone-location datasets could model movement patterns associated with social distancing and potential disease transmission.

  Outcome. The initiative illustrated a public-health use case for mobility data while contributing to debate over privacy and government access to commercial location information.

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• 2021Digital Envoy acquires X-ModeM&A

  X-Mode had built a business around mobile location collection, SDK distribution, and location-data services, but faced increasing scrutiny from platforms, journalists, regulators, and privacy advocates.

  What changed. Digital Envoy acquired the company in August 2021 and later changed its brand name to Outlogic.

  Aftermath. The transaction shifted the company into Digital Envoy’s portfolio and replaced the X-Mode identity with Outlogic, although much of the public record remains under the former name.

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• 2020Expansion into pandemic and government mobility analysisStrategy

  The COVID-19 pandemic increased demand for information about population movement, social distancing, and quarantine compliance.

  What changed. X-Mode used its location datasets in a public demonstration and shared location information with federal agencies for quarantine-related monitoring.

  Aftermath. The activity raised the profile of location intelligence while intensifying concerns about consent, surveillance, and the use of commercial data by government institutions.

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• 2024FTC allegations concerning sensitive location dataControversy

  The FTC charged X-Mode and related parties, alleging inadequate consumer consent for the sale of sensitive raw location information and a lack of effective policies to remove sensitive locations from sold data.

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• 2022Application and data-brokerage investigationControversy

  An investigation reported that applications in many countries transmitted location information to X-Mode and examined whether some data was sent through routes that did not require the company’s SDK.

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• 2020Muslim Pro data controversyControversy

  Reporting alleged that data from Muslim Pro reached a United States military intelligence contractor through X-Mode. Muslim Pro said it would stop transferring data to X-Mode, and complaints were filed in France and the United Kingdom.

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• 2020X-Mode demonstrates pandemic-related uses of location data

  X-Mode presented an analysis showing how smartphone-location datasets could illustrate social-distancing behavior and potential COVID-19 transmission patterns. The company also shared location data with federal agencies in connection with quarantine monitoring.

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1. X-Mode Social
2. Outlogic corporate website