Post by trueblue on Aug 30, 2022 19:38:58 GMT
'FTC sues data broker for selling people's sensitive location data, including abortion center visits'
'It could have serious consequences in the wake of Roe vs. Wade being overturned'
What just happened? The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is suing data broker Kochava over allegations it violated millions of people's privacy by selling their precise locations using data from their phones. The information made it possible to discover unsuspecting phone users' visits to sensitive places such as homeless and domestic violence shelters, addiction recovery facilities, and reproductive health clinics.
The suit states Kochava is, among other things, a location data broker that provides its customers massive amounts of precise geolocation data collected from consumers' mobile devices. The records use timestamps and latitude and longitude values matched with unique mobile device identification numbers, so it's not only possible to see where someone has been but also how long they were there.
The suit states Kochava is, among other things, a location data broker that provides its customers massive amounts of precise geolocation data collected from consumers' mobile devices. The records use timestamps and latitude and longitude values matched with unique mobile device identification numbers, so it's not only possible to see where someone has been but also how long they were there.
The Reg explains that Kochava gets its data from Android and iOS apps and websites that embed its tracker code. This allows developers to monitor users' habits and activities for ad-targeting purposes, and Kochava gets a real-time feed of information to collect and sell. The FTC writes that Kochava also buys personal records from other brokers to resell.