Key facts regarding the false accusations against Eskimi

Recently, several articles have come out falsely implying that Eskimi could have been involved in the collection and selling of highly sensitive data. These statements are entirely false, have no factual foundation, and are based on unverified accusations by Datastream Group, a company that is no longer active.

We want to clearly state that Eskimi is not a data broker. It does not sell any data, including European and military data. Eskimi adheres to all relevant privacy laws, and authorized third parties regularly audit our compliance. We received only a few details about the data set referenced in the articles, but even that made it clear that it’s not our company’s data set.

Eskimi has already been in touch with relevant media outlets for redaction of the false information presented in the articles. WIRED has updated their publication, and the changes reflect that their initial assertions were not based on confirmed facts. 

Eskimi is taking further steps to protect its reputation, legal and commercial interests. In the meantime, we want to provide the key facts and how the story unfolded.

Key facts

• Eskimi is not a data broker and does not sell any data – whether European, military, or otherwise.
• Eskimi follows all relevant privacy laws and is regularly audited for data use and protection policies. 
• The latest audits were carried out by leading independent auditors to ensure that we adhere to GDPR and other relevant data protection laws. The most recent update was provided by the auditors in November 2024.
• Eskimi contacted the media outlets to redact false information, and WIRED has updated their publication accordingly.
• Media outlets shared only a few details about the referred data set, but even those very limited details made it clear that it doesn't relate to our company's data set.
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The full story

Eskimi was contacted by a journalist from br.de who introduced herself to be working as part of an international team of journalists. She inquired about Eskimi’s alleged role in data sharing with a third-party data broker – Datastream Group. 

We replied with our answers, clearly stating that Eskimi is not a data broker, and we have never had or have a commercial relationship with Datastream Group. 

Even though we provided our stance and answers to multiple inquiries, the coverage did not accurately reflect our position and, most importantly, the facts. It contains false and misleading claims about our company.

The articles seemed to be based on a few unsubstantiated statements by Datastream Group – a company that is no longer active. Some articles claimed that Eskimi is involved in European data sharing and selling. This is absolutely false. The statement that Eskimi sells data to governments is also untrue. The claim that Eskimi is involved in selling any military data is also completely false.

The data set the journalists mentioned in the articles was never shared with us. We received only a few details about the data set, but even that made it clear to us that it does not refer to our company’s data set. As we mentioned above, Eskimi stated that when answering to the initial inquiries.

Data privacy at Eskimi

As Eskimi, we are regularly audited by third parties to ensure we handle data appropriately. Eskimi recently completed a data protection compliance audit conducted by Dataistic, our external Data Protection Officers (DPOs). The audit evaluated Eskimi's adherence to the relevant data protection laws, reaffirming its strong commitment to data protection and regulatory compliance. The company has actively implemented recommended measures to further enhance its data governance and privacy practices. 

To reiterate, Eskimi is not a data broker – we do not sell data. The only data Eskimi uses is generic, anonymized data for advertising purposes – quality improvement, better user experience, etc., as mentioned in our privacy policy.

The amendments

Considering the situation and the misleading and false accusations against Eskimi, we immediately contacted the news outlets to redact the false and misleading information. WIRED has updated their publication, and the changes reflect that their initial assertions were not based on confirmed facts.  

Eskimi is taking further steps to protect its legal and commercial interests.

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