Gravy Analytics and Mobilewalla Ordered to Implement Stronger Consent Measures
Two data brokers pledged to stop using geolocation data gleaned from smartphones to sell services that provide a window to the intimate lives of Americans.
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The U.S. Federal Trade Commission Tuesday accused Virginia-based Venntel and Gravy Analytics Inc., Venntel's parent company, of obtaining location data to let online advertisers "gain real-life insight into a device users' pattern-of-life."
In an administrative complaint, the consumer protection agency said Gracy Analytics boasted of having access to location data indisrectlyk collected daily from more than a billion mobile devices. Venntel specializes in offering data services to government agencies - including, the FTC said, the ability to convert the mobile advertising IDs embedded into smartphones into a record of a users "bed down location, work location and visits" to government buildings.
For digital advertisers, Gravy Analytics said it could categorize customers into behavorial traits such as "Early Risers" or "Restaurant Visitor during COVID Quarantine" based on location data.
The FTC also accused Georgia company Mobilewalla of selling smartphone location data it mainly obtained by participating in real time bidding for online advertisting. Advertising exchanges prohibit ad buyers from retaining location information transmitted whenever an open slot for consumer eyeballs opens up, but Mobilewalla nonetheless held onto the data, the FTC said.
"Surreptitious surveillance by data brokers undermines our civil liberties and puts servicemembers, union workers, religious minorities, and others at risk," said Sam Levine, director of the FTC Bureau of Consumer Protection. "Iit's past time for the industry to get serious about protecting Americans' privacy."
Venntel has reportedly supplied location data to U.S. law enforcement agencies such as Immigration and Customs Enforcement, the Customs and Border Protection and the FBI. The company gathered data through a complex network involving middlemen like advertising firms, data resellers and seemingly innocuous apps installed on smartphones worldwide. This data was reportedly used by agencies like ICE to track and identify immigrants and by CBP to monitor cell phone activity in remote areas, including the U.S.-Mexico border.
The location data sold by Gravy Analytics and Venntel was not anonymized and could be easily traced back to specific individuals, said FTC. As part a consent order, the company will delete or anonymize sensitive location data collected over the past three years.
Under the consent order, Gravy Analytics and Venntel must also implement a "supplier assessment program" to ensure that consumers have provided explicit consent for the collection and use of their precise location data.
The FTC's proposed settlement with Mobilewalla restricts the company from collecting consumer data from online ad auctions unless directly related to those auctions. The company also must desist from selling location data that can identify the location of an individual's private residence.
In response to the FTC's proposed settlements, the Electronic Privacy Information Center highlighted concerns about how data brokers' collection and sharing of personal information can harm national security and put vulnerable communities at risk, such as survivors of domestic violence and immigrants. EPIC has long advocated for tighter regulations on data brokers, urging the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau to clarify that they should be governed by the Fair Credit Reporting Act.