#location-data
#location-data

AT&T, Verizon, Sprint, T-Mobile US fined for privacy woe

Telecom companies fined $200 million for selling location data without consent. [ more ]

Electronic Frontier Foundation

2 months ago

Sen. Wyden Exposes Data Brokers Selling Location Data to Anti-Abortion Groups That Target Abortion Seekers

Near sold location data of individuals seeking reproductive healthcare to anti-abortion groups for targeted advertising.

Near enabled the targeting of anti-abortion content at people who had visited Planned Parenthood and similar clinics using location data. [ more ]

Ars Technica

2 months ago

How your sensitive data can be sold after a data broker goes bankrupt

Near, a company with a large location data set, faced bankruptcy after going public with a $1 billion valuation.

The bankruptcy raised concerns about the fate of Near's sensitive location data, prompting a call for the data's destruction to protect consumers' privacy. [ more ]

Therecord

Broker sold Planned Parenthood visitor location data to pro-life group, senator says

Pro-life organization used location data for targeted advertising

Senator Ron Wyden calls for action to protect privacy of patients [ more ]

PCMAG

Senator: This Data Broker Tracked User Visits to 600 Planned Parenthoods

Data broker allegedly tracked user visits to reproductive clinics and gave the information to an anti-abortion campaign.

Senator Ron Wyden is demanding federal regulators intervene and force the data broker to delete the collected information. [ more ]

moredata-privacy

data-brokers

The Mercury News

3 weeks ago

Who's selling your digital data? California offers tools to protect online privacy

Data brokers collect and sell personal data, including location and health information, raising privacy concerns. [ more ]

CalMatters

3 weeks ago

Who's selling your digital data? California gives you tools to protect your online privacy

Data brokers like Near Intelligence and Outlogic sell location and personal data, potentially compromising user privacy. [ more ]

POLITICO

A company tracked visits to 600 Planned Parenthood locations for anti-abortion ads, senator says

Location data was used for a national anti-abortion ad campaign targeting Planned Parenthood clinics.

This campaign is the largest targeting campaign against reproductive health clinics based on brokered data. [ more ]

moredata-brokers

ftc

Therecord

FTC settles second case with geolocation data broker in two weeks

The Federal Trade Commission is cracking down on location data brokers who sell sensitive data without informed consent.

Data aggregator InMarket Media improperly collected, used, and stored consumers' location data, violating Section 5 of the FTC Act. [ more ]

Federal Trade Commission

FTC Order Will Ban InMarket from Selling Precise Consumer Location Data

InMarket Media is prohibited from selling precise location data without informed consent from consumers.

The FTC action aims to protect consumers from unchecked corporate surveillance and data monetization. [ more ]

TechCrunch

FTC bans another data broker from selling consumers' location data | TechCrunch

The FTC has banned data aggregation company InMarket from selling consumers' precise location data.

The FTC accuses InMarket of failing to obtain users' consent before using their location data for marketing and advertising purposes. [ more ]

www.fastcompany.com

The FTC's case against adtech giant Kochava highlights how much data brokers know everything about us

Kochava is facing a legal battle with the FTC over its data acquisition and AI-aided analytics practices.

The outcome of this case could impact the global data marketplace and Congress's approach to AI and data privacy. [ more ]

moreftc

privacy

www.theguardian.com

Google keeps location history data including abortion clinics despite vow to delete, new study shows

Google still retains location history data from visits to abortion clinics in 50% of cases despite their pledge to delete it.

Research conducted by tech advocacy group Accountable Tech found that Google's rate of retention of location history data has improved slightly but is still not in line with their original promise. [ more ]

Electronic Frontier Foundation

FTC Bars X-Mode from Selling Sensitive Location Data

Phone app location data brokers pose a threat to privacy and safety by selling our location data to advertisers and even police.

The Federal Trade Commission has taken action against X-Mode Social for collecting and selling raw location data to marketers and government contractors. [ more ]

Therecord

FTC settles unprecedented case against geolocation data broker

FTC settles with data broker for selling location data

Data broker must stop sharing sensitive location data and establish prevention programs [ more ]

TechCrunch

FTC bans X-Mode from selling phone location data, and orders firm to delete collected data | TechCrunch

The U.S. Federal Trade Commission has banned data broker X-Mode Social from sharing or selling users' sensitive location data.

X-Mode, now known as Outlogic, must delete or destroy all previously collected location data unless it obtains consumer consent. [ more ]

news.bloomberglaw.com

FTC Reaches First Settlement Banning Location Data Tracking (1)

Data broker X-Mode Social and its successor Outlogic LLC have settled with the FTC over the sale of sensitive location information.

X-Mode and Outlogic were accused of selling precise geolocation data that could be used to track users' visits to sensitive locations. [ more ]

www.mercurynews.com

Google will stop telling law enforcement which users were near a crime

Google is changing its Maps tool to no longer have access to users' individual location histories, blocking law enforcement from obtaining data on everyone near a crime.

Location data will now be saved directly on users' devices to keep it safe and private. [ more ]

moreprivacy

TechCrunch

2 weeks ago

US fines telcos $200M for sharing customer location data without consent | TechCrunch

Major U.S. wireless carriers fined $200 million for illegally sharing customers' location data. [ more ]

Electronic Frontier Foundation

4 weeks ago

Fourth Amendment is Not For Sale Act Passed the House, Now it Should Pass the Senate

The Fourth Amendment is Not For Sale Act passed the U.S. House of Representatives, protecting location data privacy, advocates for privacy rights, and closing a dangerous loophole. [ more ]

WIRED

The Pentagon Tried to Hide That It Bought Americans' Data Without a Warrant

US officials have been concealing arrangements between spy agencies and private companies for tracking Americans' whereabouts via cellphones.

Police and intelligence agencies pay companies for location data, bypassing the need for a warrant. [ more ]

time.com

Google Will Stop Providing Law Enforcement Data on Which Users Were Near a Crime

Google is changing its Maps tool to prevent access to users' individual location histories, making it more difficult for law enforcement to obtain data on everyone in the vicinity of a crime.

The change comes after a Bloomberg investigation revealed that police were increasingly using warrants to obtain location and search data from Google, even for nonviolent cases and individuals unrelated to the crime. [ more ]

The Drum

Apple & Google debut new measures that will limit user data sharing with law enforcement

Google and Apple are introducing new data privacy measures for users, giving users more control over their data.

Google's new measure includes stopping the storage of users' location history and automatically deleting location data after three months. [ more ]

www.cnn.com

EU data protection

Feds crack down hard on selling of personal data without consent

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has banned InMarket Media from selling or licensing people's precise geolocation data, highlighting the government's crackdown on data brokers.

InMarket allegedly gathered consumer location data from mobile apps and used it for targeted advertising without users' informed consent. [ more ]

WIRED

EU data protection

The Sad Truth of the FTC's 'Historic' Privacy Win

The FTC reached a settlement with a data broker that was selling sensitive location data.

The settlement requires the company to stop selling the data and delete all gathered data. [ more ]

Theregister

Information security

FTC wins first settlement banning sale of location data

The US Federal Trade Commission has reached a settlement with data broker X-Mode Social, prohibiting them from sharing or selling sensitive location data.

X-Mode was accused of selling raw non-anonymized location data collected through its own apps and an SDK found in hundreds of popular apps on Apple and Android devices. [ more ]

www.fastcompany.com

Digital life

Google search users are getting annoyed by a pop-up window that asks: See results closer to you?

Pop-up windows asking for location have been frustrating Google users

The pop-up window appears even if users have already chosen not to share their location [ more ]

The Verge

Digital life

Google Maps gives you more control from the blue dot

Google Maps is introducing new privacy features that allow users to have more control over their location data.

Users can now easily toggle device location and location history settings in the app. [ more ]

AdExchanger