FTC Bars Kochava From Selling Sensitive Location Data

On May 4, 2026, the Federal Trade Commission announced a stipulated final order resolving its enforcement action against data broker Kochava Inc. and its subsidiary Collective Data Solutions (CDS). The order bans them from selling or sharing sensitive precise location data without affirmative express consumer consent. Kochava and CDS provide a range of digital analytics services, including the Kochava Collective (for which CDS assumed operation in mid-2023) that aggregate certain data made available through Kochava’s proprietary data marketplace.

In a press release announcing the stipulated final order, the FTC said Kochava and CDS’s “collection, use, and disclosure of precise location data invaded consumers’ privacy by revealing their movements, including visits to sensitive locations such as health facilities and places of worship, in violation of Section 5 of the FTC Act. The FTC also said that “because consumers were unaware of and did not consent to this data sharing, consumers