Niantic Spatial has finally cleared the air on claims they sold Pokémon Go data for military use.
A few days ago, a report from DroneXL alleged Niantic would be using Pokémon Go data from the defunct AR Mapping Field Research mini-game to a defense company called Vantor. Vantor told DroneXL it was not using Pokémon Go data itself.
Niantic Spatial cleared the air on the situation with new statements to Kotaku. They confirmed that the Vantor deal, which is in its preliminary stages, does not include Pokémon Go data. They also made it clear that Niantic Spatial does not have any rights to the Pokémon Go data at all.
It isn’t just that Pokémon Go was sold to Scopely. Niantic Spatial itself separated from the original Niantic, to focus on their VPS (visual positioning system) technology. So there is really no connection between them.
And yes, that also means the robotic delivery company that worked with Niantic Spatial also had nothing to do with Pokémon Go’s data.
But we also know Niantic’s history, and there’s no dispute that Pokémon Go was one of many projects/apps that helped them build this technology.