The FTC is cracking down against data brokers putting American users’ sensitive tracking data for sale.
The regulator took action against Gravy Analytics and Mobilewalla for retrieving and selling sensitive location tracking information from places like hospitals, churches, educational institutes, and military bases.
It claims that such practices are illegal as they collect and sell location information from clients who include data related to visits to these locations. Other names of subsidiaries were also highlighted who were busy engaging in the practice of turning this into some kind of profitable venture that would come at the cost of users’ privacy.
Customers could look through years of historical data including precise locations if they wanted as it was stored in their databases, the report showed. Meanwhile, top officials such as those from the FBI, Customs, Immigration, and IRS were also able to get access to certain locations, events, and dates as per the FTC.
Meanwhile, Venntel also gave them tools other than the usual data. This would help in geofencing activities and collecting VIDs. It would also give IP addresses and timestamps with other data. Meanwhile, devices could be tracked easily in a continuous manner. Device information about certain devices linked to VID would also be up for grabs.
The FTC estimated that so far Mobilewalla has more than two billion ad identifiers that it started to collect from the start of 2018 to 2020. It also harvested location data of more than 183 million devices in 2021 and more than 10M during the first half of 2022.
So under the latest ban by the FTC, all data brokers cannot sell, reveal, or use sensitive information related to any good or service. It also needs to create sensitive data location programs for greater security and protection of all.
The ban also clearly highlights how Mobilewalla will be barred from consumer data collection related to online ad auctions. This would be for reasons other than participation in such events. Clearly, it’s a landmark decision as it's being called out as unfair practices for the first time ever.
The order is even mandating how data aggregators get rid of location data histories and anything else created using this kind of data.
It’s great to see the FTC finally taking a stand on this front. Many companies are illegally collecting and then selling users’ sensitive location information without obtaining consent.
Image: DIW-Aigen
Read next: Experts Warn: Connected Cars Could Threaten Privacy and Security
The regulator took action against Gravy Analytics and Mobilewalla for retrieving and selling sensitive location tracking information from places like hospitals, churches, educational institutes, and military bases.
It claims that such practices are illegal as they collect and sell location information from clients who include data related to visits to these locations. Other names of subsidiaries were also highlighted who were busy engaging in the practice of turning this into some kind of profitable venture that would come at the cost of users’ privacy.
Customers could look through years of historical data including precise locations if they wanted as it was stored in their databases, the report showed. Meanwhile, top officials such as those from the FBI, Customs, Immigration, and IRS were also able to get access to certain locations, events, and dates as per the FTC.
Meanwhile, Venntel also gave them tools other than the usual data. This would help in geofencing activities and collecting VIDs. It would also give IP addresses and timestamps with other data. Meanwhile, devices could be tracked easily in a continuous manner. Device information about certain devices linked to VID would also be up for grabs.
The FTC estimated that so far Mobilewalla has more than two billion ad identifiers that it started to collect from the start of 2018 to 2020. It also harvested location data of more than 183 million devices in 2021 and more than 10M during the first half of 2022.
So under the latest ban by the FTC, all data brokers cannot sell, reveal, or use sensitive information related to any good or service. It also needs to create sensitive data location programs for greater security and protection of all.
The ban also clearly highlights how Mobilewalla will be barred from consumer data collection related to online ad auctions. This would be for reasons other than participation in such events. Clearly, it’s a landmark decision as it's being called out as unfair practices for the first time ever.
The order is even mandating how data aggregators get rid of location data histories and anything else created using this kind of data.
It’s great to see the FTC finally taking a stand on this front. Many companies are illegally collecting and then selling users’ sensitive location information without obtaining consent.
Read next: Experts Warn: Connected Cars Could Threaten Privacy and Security
