The address of Billie Eilish’s family home was revealed via a push notification to users of the crime-reporting app Citizen, VICE reports(Opens in a new window).
The app, which was reportedly used by over 10 million(Opens in a new window) people last year, sent an initial notification informing users that police were responding to a 911 call in Los Angeles’ Highland Park neighborhood the night of Jan. 5.
This was followed by an update at 9:41 p.m. that disclosed the home belonged to popstar Billie Eilish. That notification, VICE reports, was sent to 178,000 people and was viewed by 78,000 of them.
Police promptly arrested a man who had broken into the home 15 minutes after receiving a call from the home’s housekeeper, who wasn’t at the property but had been alerted to the break-in by a camera system, KTLA reports(Opens in a new window).
The Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) is currently investigating the case to ascertain whether the suspect stole anything. KTLA reported that the suspect fought with law enforcement before he was taken into custody.
On Friday morning, Citizen reportedly updated the app’s description of the incident to name a cross street rather than an exact address.
Citizen has attracted notoriety for its focus on getting users to record and film active crimes and police activity happening in their vicinity: When it first launched as Vigilante in 2016, Apple took the platform down from its App store owing to safety concerns, so it was forced to rebrand as Citizen.
Recommended by Our Editors
Citizen’s privacy policy(Opens in a new window) states that it seeks to store personal data “as short a duration as possible,” though this does not apply to victims of crimes reported on the app, but to its users.
In April 2021, Citizen CEO Andrew Frame openly encouraged(Opens in a new window) users to hunt down and find a suspected wildfire arsonist. The app placed a $30,000 bounty for any user that managed to find the man, but it later turned out that he was not responsible for the arson.
Citizen did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Like What You’re Reading?
Sign up for SecurityWatch newsletter for our top privacy and security stories delivered right to your inbox.
This newsletter may contain advertising, deals, or affiliate links. Subscribing to a newsletter indicates your consent to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. You may unsubscribe from the newsletters at any time.
Hits: 0
