January 10, 2024 at 04:30AM
The U.S. FTC prohibited data broker Outlogic from sharing sensitive location data with third-parties due to privacy violations, requiring data destruction and a comprehensive privacy program. The FTC accused Outlogic of inadequate safeguards and transparency, prompting a settlement and Senator Wyden’s praise. Outlogic disagreed with the implications and the need for federal privacy legislation was emphasized.
Key takeaways from the meeting notes on Jan 10, 2024:
1. The U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has prohibited data broker Outlogic, previously known as X-Mode Social, from sharing or selling sensitive location data with third parties.
2. The ban is part of a settlement over allegations that the company sold precise location data that could be used to track people’s visits to sensitive locations, such as medical and reproductive health clinics, places of religious worship, and domestic abuse shelters.
3. The proposed order also requires the company to destroy all the location data it previously gathered unless it obtains consumer consent or ensures the data has been de-identified or rendered non-sensitive.
4. The FTC accused X-Mode Social and Outlogic of failing to establish adequate safeguards to prevent misuse of the data by downstream customers, marking the first-ever ban on the use and sale of sensitive location data.
5. X-Mode, known for selling location data to the U.S. military, works by offering precise location data collected from proprietary apps and third-party apps that incorporate its SDK.
6. Apple and Google urged app developers to remove the SDK from their apps or face a ban from their respective app stores following revelations in 2020.
7. The raw location data sold by X-Mode/Outlogic is associated with mobile advertising IDs, capable of matching an individual consumer’s mobile device with the locations they visited and was not anonymized.
8. Outlogic disagreed with the “implications” of the FTC announcement and claimed there was no finding it misused location data.
9. U.S. Senator Ron Wyden commended the FTC for taking action against the location data broker and emphasized the need for tough privacy legislation to protect Americans’ personal information.
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