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ARTICLE · 29 JANUARY 2024

FTC Issues First Order Prohibiting Sale Of Sensitive Location Data

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On 9 January, 2024, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) issued its first settlement prohibiting a data broker from sharing or selling sensitive location data...

United StatesConsumer Protection
Eric F. Vicente Flores
Eric F. Vicente Flores
Whitney E. McCollum
Whitney E. McCollum

On 9 January, 2024, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) issued its first settlement prohibiting a data broker from sharing or selling sensitive location data, and required deletion of all location data collected deceptively. The FTC alleged that X-Mode Social ("X-Mode"), and Outlogic, LLC ("Outlogic"), X-Mode's successor firm, failed to implement reasonable and appropriate safeguards on the use of such information by third parties. X-Mode/Outlogic collected personal information, including location data via its mobile applications, which it would then sell to third parties.

X-Mode and Outlogic sold non-anonymized raw location data, which the FTC notes can be associated with mobile advertising IDs and allows businesses to match an individual consumer's mobile device with the locations they visited. The information shared with third parties included "sensitive data location," which is characterized as information that reveals visits to houses of worship or doctors'

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