Pokémon Go player scans could power GPS-free military drones, Dutch investigation warns

When hundreds of thousands of people scanned their surroundings for rewards in the game Pokémon Go, they likely had no idea what their images would one day be used for. According to the Dutch daily Trouw, these scans became the basis for a navigation system intended for use in military drones and robots as well. The American company Niantic Spatial, which owns the technology, describes the process as ethical and based on players' voluntary consent. NL Times ↗

Over ten years, the game's original developer Niantic collected nearly 30 billion images from hundreds of millions of players. Since autumn 2020, players have voluntarily uploaded short video scans of real-world locations — street corners, shop windows, intersections — in exchange for in-game rewards. From this data, the company trained what it calls a Large Geospatial Model, a 3D model of the world that enables precise navigation even where GPS signal is unavailable. MIT Technology Review ↗

In the meantime, the game studio Niantic changed owners. In May 2025, it was acquired by Scopely for 3.5 billion dollars, but Niantic retained the geospatial technology and spun it off into a new company, Niantic Spatial, led by founder John Hanke. It is this company that is now monetizing the data — first with delivery robots from Coco Robotics, which operate in American cities as well as in Helsinki. TechCrunch ↗

The military dimension emerged in December 2025. Niantic Spatial then announced a partnership with Vantor — the renamed intelligence division of the former satellite giant Maxar. Two technologies are being combined: Niantic's ground-based Visual Positioning System and Vantor's aerial software Raptor, which locates drones by comparing their camera imagery with geospatial data. The result is intended to be a shared coordinate system for both airborne and ground-based platforms in environments where GPS fails or is jammed. Vantor ↗

The companies state that in early testing the system reduced navigation error by up to 70 percent and in many cases approached an accuracy of around 1.5 meters. Field trials were planned for early 2026. It should be emphasized that this is an announced partnership and planned tests, not confirmed combat deployment. SpaceNews ↗

Vantor denies directly using data from Pokémon Go. However, according to the Trouw daily, it also refuses to confirm whether the model it plans to deploy was trained on these scans. When earlier asked about the civilian partnership, Niantic Spatial acknowledged that game scans were used to train an "early version" of the model, and maintains that players voluntarily agreed to the terms and that the company acts ethically. Regarding the defense partnership, the company stated it currently has no new information to share. NL Times ↗

Critics point to the ethical dimension. "Without the enormous number of scans from all those players, the development of this system would never have progressed so quickly," Jeroen van den Hoven, professor of ethics and technology at TU Delft, told Trouw. According to him, players contributed to military applications indirectly, perhaps only minimally, but nonetheless. He also notes that it is nearly impossible to determine precisely which parts of the model originated from game scans — AI models are blended from many datasets, and the original data is no longer traceable within them. NL Times ↗

One Dutch player, 34-year-old Floris de Hingh, who has played the game since its launch in 2016, reacted with disillusionment. "First you think you're just playing a game, and suddenly your data can be used in warfare," he told Trouw. Van den Hoven called on the European Commission to introduce clear data protection rules and to prevent Europe from becoming dependent on foreign navigation systems. British game designer Adrian Hon, meanwhile, advises players to stop creating scans. NL Times ↗

What hotinfo is monitoring:

Field tests of the integrated Niantic Spatial and Vantor system were scheduled for early 2026 — we are monitoring whether and where the technology is actually deployed.

Whether Vantor or Niantic Spatial will specifically confirm or deny that the military model was trained on game scans.

The response of the European Commission and data protection regulators to the collection of geospatial data from everyday applications, ranging from Pokémon Go to smart glasses to autonomous vehicles.