FTC to Ban Data Broker From Selling Location Data

The FTC will ban Kochava and subsidiary Collective Data Solutions (CDS) from selling the location data of American consumers without explicit consent as part of a settlement stemming from a lawsuit from August 2022.

According to Bleeping Computer, the FTC brought the lawsuit in response to Kochava selling precise location data from "hundreds of millions" of mobile devices. This included sensitive locations like mental health clinics, addiction recovery facilities, reproductive health clinics, houses of worship, and domestic abuse or homeless shelters. The FTC alleged that consumers were unaware and had not consented.

Kochava countersued the FTC for overreach but still announced it would introduce a "Privacy Block" feature, which would block sensitive locations from being collected.

Under the settlement - if approved - Kochava and CDS would not be allowed to sell location data unless they have "affirmative express consent," and even then the data can only be used to provide "a service that the consumers directly requested." In addition, the companies must also implement a program to verify consumer consent, establish a "sensitive location data" program, submit incident reports to the FTC, and allow consumers to opt out and request who received their data.

Bleeping Computer notes that in 2024 the FTC also banned InMarket Media, Outlogic (formerly X-Mode Social), Gravy Analytics, and Mobilewalla from tracking American location data.