{"id":60207,"date":"2026-06-12T19:17:03","date_gmt":"2026-06-12T11:17:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/?p=60207"},"modified":"2026-06-12T19:17:03","modified_gmt":"2026-06-12T11:17:03","slug":"pokemon-go-data-not-used-to-train-military-drones-niantic-spatial-insists","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/?p=60207","title":{"rendered":"Pok\u00e9mon Go Data Not Used to Train Military Drones, Niantic Spatial Insists"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div id=\"\">\n<p data-cy=\"paragraph\" class=\"paragraph jsx-2269604527\">Pok\u00e9mon Go location data captured by players is not being used to train military drones, Niantic Spatial has insisted. <\/p>\n<p data-cy=\"paragraph\" class=\"paragraph jsx-2269604527\">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. <\/p>\n<p data-cy=\"paragraph\" class=\"paragraph jsx-2269604527\">Niantic and Vantor are working together on technology that could allow people and vehicles \u2014 including ground-based machines such as bomb disposal robots, or aerial systems such as drones \u2014 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.<\/p>\n<p><output class=\"box-wrapper jsx-2673806401\" data-cy=\"article-video\"\/><\/p>\n<p data-cy=\"paragraph\" class=\"paragraph jsx-2269604527\">The article alleged that this would be made possible using &#8220;30 billion&#8221; pieces of location data obtained from Pok\u00e9mon Go players \u2014 and that while they were knowingly using their phone to capture video of their surroundings, they were unknowingly also contributing to military technology. &#8220;First you think you are playing a game, and then suddenly your data can be used in a war,&#8221; reads one eye-catching quote from Trouw&#8217;s article. But this is untrue, Niantic Spatial has insisted.<\/p>\n<p data-cy=\"paragraph\" class=\"paragraph jsx-2269604527\">&#8220;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,&#8221; a spokesperson for the company told IGN. &#8220;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.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p data-cy=\"paragraph\" class=\"paragraph jsx-2269604527\">So, what is Niantic Spatial up to? A spokesperson described the partnership&#8217;s aim as building a &#8220;system capable of allowing a sensor to determine its position in the real world&#8221; to ensure &#8220;that a machine or people can share coordinates in real-time, even without a GPS signal.&#8221; <\/p>\n<p><output class=\"box-wrapper jsx-2673806401\" data-cy=\"article-slideshow\"><button type=\"button\" style=\"display:none\" class=\"jsx-2228525885\"\/><span data-cy=\"slideshow-view-trigger\"><\/p>\n<div data-cy=\"slideshow-preview\" class=\"jsx-1711207865 slideshow-preview\">\n<h3 class=\"title5 jsx-62124236 jsx-1085005187\" data-cy=\"slideshow-preview-title\">The Best Pok\u00e9mon Spin-off Games<\/h3>\n<div data-cy=\"slideshow-images-container\" class=\"jsx-1711207865 images-container\"><button type=\"button\" data-cy=\"hero-image\" aria-label=\"Open Slideshow\" class=\"jsx-1711207865 hero-image\"><img alt=\"When a franchise reaches the hulking size of Pok\u00e9mon, it finds its way into everything. The Pok\u00e9mon Company\u2019s games have touched almost every genre, we\u2019ve seen its characters rendered in almost every art style, and we\u2019ve seen them battle a pantheon of gods and monsters. A universe of Pok\u00e9mon games exists outside of the core series, and this month we\u2019re treated to a new major spin-off from the franchise in Pok\u00e9mon Pokopia.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;&#10;By moving away from the classic turn-based RPG formula, spin-off games allow us to see different shades of the Pokemon universe and experience it in a new light. While the core Pok\u00e9mon games can be boiled down to the competitive side of things, they\u2019re also about building an emotional attachment to your team, immersing yourself in this strange, utopic universe and, most importantly, being enchanted by the lore of the world and interacting with myths and legends. The best spin-offs focus on those other aspects and enhance that sense of wonder.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;&#10;With Pokopia having just landed, this is the perfect time to celebrate all the different ways the pocket monsters have deviated from their usual turn-based RPG roots, and rank the top 10 Pok\u00e9mon spin-off games.&#10;\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"progressive-image jsx-2896921488 image aspect-ratio aspect-ratio-16-9 jsx-2605834259 jsx-2338608387 hover-opacity\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"data:image\/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP\/\/\/yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7\" data-cy=\"progressive-image\"\/><span class=\"button-text jsx-729543028 button button--primary jsx-3381835873 jsx-4266531355 row-pagination-button next contained centered round large\" data-cy=\"paginate next\" title=\"Open Slideshow\"><span class=\"ign-icon right-chevron jsx-2750866048 jsx-2919720488\" role=\"presentation\" aria-hidden=\"true\" data-cy=\"right-chevron\" style=\"mask:url(https:\/\/kraken.ignimgs.com\/_next\/static\/media\/RightChevron.272be43c.svg?cors=1) no-repeat center center \/ contain;background:currentColor\"\/><\/span><\/button><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><\/span><\/output><\/p>\n<p data-cy=\"paragraph\" class=\"paragraph jsx-2269604527\">&#8220;Ground scans were one component to help train Niantic Spatial&#8217;s real-world foundation models \u2014 AI systems that learn to recognize and interpret physical spaces,&#8221; a spokesperson explained. &#8220;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.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p data-cy=\"paragraph\" class=\"paragraph jsx-2269604527\">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&#8217;s website suggests airborne capabilities are separate to Niantic&#8217;s involvement, which is for &#8220;ground-based&#8221; use only.<\/p>\n<p data-cy=\"paragraph\" class=\"paragraph jsx-2269604527\">Other elements of the article also bear some explanation. When questioned about the supposed &#8220;30 billion&#8221; location scans that Niantic Spatial holds, IGN was able to ascertain that this figure relates to scans from various Niantic games (including the company&#8217;s original title, Ingress, which formed the basis for Pok\u00e9mon Go&#8217;s location map), and counts the hundreds of individual video frames in each uploaded video separately. <\/p>\n<p><output class=\"box-wrapper jsx-2673806401\" data-cy=\"article-slideshow\"><button type=\"button\" style=\"display:none\" class=\"jsx-2228525885\"\/><span data-cy=\"slideshow-view-trigger\"><\/p>\n<div data-cy=\"slideshow-preview\" class=\"jsx-1711207865 slideshow-preview\">\n<h3 class=\"title5 jsx-62124236 jsx-1085005187\" data-cy=\"slideshow-preview-title\">Pokemon Go Snapshot: Instructions and Photobombs<\/h3>\n<div data-cy=\"slideshow-images-container\" class=\"jsx-1711207865 images-container\"><button type=\"button\" data-cy=\"hero-image\" aria-label=\"Open Slideshow\" class=\"jsx-1711207865 hero-image\"><img alt=\"\" aria-hidden=\"true\" decoding=\"async\" role=\"presentation\" class=\"progressive-image jsx-2896921488 image aspect-ratio aspect-ratio-16-9 jsx-2605834259 jsx-2338608387 hover-opacity\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"data:image\/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP\/\/\/yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7\" data-cy=\"progressive-image\"\/><span class=\"button-text jsx-729543028 button button--primary jsx-3381835873 jsx-4266531355 row-pagination-button next contained centered round large\" data-cy=\"paginate next\" title=\"Open Slideshow\"><span class=\"ign-icon right-chevron jsx-2750866048 jsx-2919720488\" role=\"presentation\" aria-hidden=\"true\" data-cy=\"right-chevron\" style=\"mask:url(https:\/\/kraken.ignimgs.com\/_next\/static\/media\/RightChevron.272be43c.svg?cors=1) no-repeat center center \/ contain;background:currentColor\"\/><\/span><\/button><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><\/span><\/output><\/p>\n<p data-cy=\"paragraph\" class=\"paragraph jsx-2269604527\">Additionally, it&#8217;s worth noting that location scanning within Pok\u00e9mon 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&#8217;s sale of the company&#8217;s gaming portfolio to Saudi-owned Monopoly Go! publisher Scopely.<\/p>\n<p data-cy=\"paragraph\" class=\"paragraph jsx-2269604527\">&#8220;Now as part of Scopely, Pok\u00e9mon Go data is not shared with Niantic Spatial,&#8221; a spokesperson said. &#8220;AR Scans collected through Pok\u00e9mon 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 Pok\u00e9mon Go&#8217;s move to Scopely.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p data-cy=\"paragraph\" class=\"paragraph jsx-2269604527\"><em>Tom Phillips is IGN&#8217;s News Editor. You can reach Tom at tom_phillips@ign.com or find him on Bluesky <\/em>@tomphillipseg.bsky.social<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><br \/>\n<center><br \/>\n<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/www.ign.com\/articles\/no-pokmon-go-data-isnt-being-used-to-train-military-drones-niantic-spatial-insists\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Read Full Article At Source <\/a><br \/>\n<center\/><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Pok\u00e9mon Go location data captured by players is not being used to train military drones, Niantic Spatial has insisted. The denial follows the publication of&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":60208,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[32],"tags":[4378,4476,2503,14883,24643,2879,19073,5079],"class_list":["post-60207","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-tech-gadgets-reviews","tag-data","tag-drones","tag-insists","tag-military","tag-niantic","tag-pokemon","tag-spatial","tag-train","wpcat-32-id"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/60207","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=60207"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/60207\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/60208"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=60207"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=60207"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=60207"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}