FTC Bans Location Data Company That Powers the Surveillance Ecosystem
Source: 404 Media
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) announced sweeping action against some of the most important companies in the location data industry on Tuesday, including those that power surveillance tools used by a wide spread of U.S. law enforcement agencies and demanding they delete data related to certain sensitive areas like health clinics and places of worship.
Venntel, through its parent company Gravy Analytics, takes location data from smartphones, either through ordinary apps installed on them or through the advertising ecosystem, and then provides that data feed to other companies who sell location tracking technology to the government or sells the data directly itself. Venntel is the company that provides the underlying data for a variety of other government contractors and surveillance tools, including Locate X. 404 Media and a group of other journalists recently revealed Locate X could be used to pinpoint phones that visited abortion clinics.
The FTC says in a proposed order that Gravy and Venntel will be banned from selling, disclosing, or using sensitive location data, except in “limited circumstances” involving national security or law enforcement. Sensitive locations include medical facilities, religious organizations, correctional facilities, labor union offices, schools and childcare facilities, domestic abuse and homeless support centers, shelters for refugee or immigrant populations, and military installations. The FTC also demands that the companies delete all historic location data.
The move is significant in that it targets a crucial player in the broader location data industry, but also in that it could have an impact on the surveillance of Americans by American agencies.
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Read more: https://www.404media.co/ftc-bans-location-data-company-that-powers-the-surveillance-ecosystem/
The FTC's press release - which would be quotable in its entirety because it is a press release, but which I'm just linking to because it's easy and free to read at the link, and it's soooo long that adding all of it here would make it hard to scroll down:
https://www.ftc.gov/news-events/news/press-releases/2024/12/ftc-takes-action-against-gravy-analytics-venntel-unlawfully-selling-location-data-tracking-consumers
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