FTC sues app analytics and data broker Kochava for selling data revealing visits to reproductive health clinics, places of worship, homeless shelters, and more
The later dismissal for insufficient evidence of consumer harm shows why this case matters beyond one broker: sensitive-location data may be intuitively alarming, but the FTC’s legal theory still has to meet a demanding evidentiary standard.
First-order effects
Kochava must defend its location-data sales practices against the FTC, putting its handling of visits to sensitive venues directly under legal scrutiny.
The FTC turns its earlier threat of action into an enforcement test centered on whether selling identifiable patterns of movement can expose consumers at vulnerable locations.
Second-order effects
Other location-data brokers face stronger pressure to restrict sales involving sensitive venues, reinforcing the precautionary step SafeGraph had already taken.
Congress’s inquiry into geofencing and reproductive-health data gains an active enforcement case that spotlights data-broker policies alongside consumer apps.
Third-order effects
The Kochava arc points to location-data enforcement being decided on proof of concrete consumer harm, not solely on the sensitivity of the places revealed by the data.
If enforcement continues to target sales of sensitive-location data, broker business models will increasingly be shaped by venue-based restrictions and litigation-tested definitions of harm.
The trend: U.S. privacy scrutiny is shifting from general concerns about data collection toward enforcement focused on the downstream sale and use of sensitive location data.
1. Today @FTC sued data broker Kochava for selling geolocation data that can be used to track people at addiction recovery facilities, reproductive health clinics, places of worship, shelters, and other sensitive locations. https://www.ftc.gov/...
I've been fighting to protect Americans from shady data brokers trying to sell private reproductive data for a profit in post-Roe America. I applaud @FTC for this important step. I won't stop fighting to protect Americans' privacy. https://twitter.com/...
Americans do not expect their smartphone locations to be aggregated and sold in a manner that could enable third parties to ascertain their religious beliefs, health treatments and LGBTQ+ identification, @FTC said. https://twitter.com/...
Phone manufactures and app developers have a real opportunity here to stop phone locations being tracked. Who's going to step up? https://twitter.com/...
Major action by @FTC & Biden admin to protect Americans' privacy. With abortion rights under attack by the Supreme Court and Republican states, it's a critical step to crack down on data brokers selling sensitive location data—including at healthcare clinics & places of worship. …
The @FTC under @linakhanFTC continues efforts to “follow the trail of pregnancy data” being shared haphazardly by data brokers. The lawsuit just announced today into Kochava is one to watch — the implications for other data brokers is significant! 🧐🌩️⚖️ https://twitter.com/...
New: the FTC is suing a “massive” data broker for selling location data of people who visit abortion clinics. FTC says its possible to get a sample of the data, and then from that, track a specific device to a clinic and back to a single family home. https://www.vice.com/...
“[B]y selling data tracking people, Kochava is enabling others to identify individuals and exposing them to threats of stigma, stalking, discrimination, job loss, and even physical violence.” https://www.bleepingcomputer.com/ ...
The FTC has sued data broker Kochava for selling access to raw consumer location data derived from partners' smartphone apps. They allege this is unfair under § 5 because location data is sensitive and reveals intensely personal aspects of our lives. (1/6) https://www.ftc.gov/...
The @FTC has filed a lawsuit against the ad-tech startup Kochava, claiming geotracking people who visit abortion clinics & other sensitive locations could expose them to “threats of stigma, stalking, discrimination, job loss, and even physical violence.” https://www.ftc.gov/...
Wow this is a major shot across the bow to the location data industry. @FTC says sample Kochava data included visits to reproductive health clinics, houses of worship, shelters + addition recovery centers. This comes after FTC warned brokers in July that enforcement is coming. ht…
FTC files major suit against data broker selling geolocation data. Esp after Dobbs, this is a vital step to protect patients and consumers from data surveillance-superpowered vigilantes, extremists and overzealous prosecutors. https://www.ftc.gov/...
Great to see the @FTC step up against creepy invasions of privacy made even more salient by the Supreme Court's awful Dobbs decision. Independent agencies are important! https://www.ftc.gov/... https://twitter.com/...