A Bay Area Fusion Center Asked PenLink to Test Ad-ID Location Tracking on an Active San Jose PD Case

On August 5, 2026, an Assistant Deputy Director at the Northern California Regional Intelligence Center (NCRIC) emailed PenLink asking about a trial of Webloc, the company's ad-based mass location tracking tool. The reason given: San Jose Police Department had asked NCRIC for help on a case, and NCRIC wanted to use that case as a live test. "I'd like to use this case as a test," the email reads. "Webloc facilitates search for AD ID data. I'm not sure if it's a standalone tool for Penlink or an add on feature for Tangles."

NCRIC is one of 78 Department of Homeland Security recognized fusion centers, created in 2007 by the Northern California High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area Executive Board to share intelligence among federal, state and local agencies across the Bay Area. PenLink's account team replied the same day, describing Webloc as a tool that pulls anonymized advertising ID data to locate devices tied to a place, track their movement over time and build leads through geofencing. No warrant is required, since the data originates in the ad-tech pipeline rather than with a phone carrier. PenLink offered to bundle Webloc with its Tangles platform and asked to discuss NCRIC's needs directly.

The chain also shows hesitation before NCRIC contacted PenLink at all. One internal reply doubted NCRIC would pay for Webloc, but added the center might "already have something similar that could help," suggesting a comparable mass location tool was already in NCRIC's hands. Webloc, built by the Israeli firm Cobwebs Technologies before PenLink acquired it in 2023, is already the subject of a DHS Inspector General inquiry and a congressional letter over warrantless federal purchases. This record adds a state fusion center and a named local case to that list.