FTC settlement bars data broker from selling sensitive location info
Outlogic, a Virginia-based data broker, agreed to stop selling sensitive location data that helps track people’s whereabouts, as part of the Federal Trade Commission’s first data tracking settlement.
Outlogic, a Virginia-based data broker, agreed to stop selling sensitive location data that helps track people’s whereabouts, as part of the Federal Trade Commission’s first data tracking settlement.
Tuesday’s accord resolves claims that Outlogic, formerly known as X-Mode Social, violated consumers’ privacy for several years by selling their data to advertisers, researchers, retailers and government contractors without permission.
According to the FTC, Outlogic had no policies until last May to remove doctor’s offices, domestic abuse shelters, reproductive health clinics, places of worship and other sensitive locations from raw data it sold.
Outlogic, which has marketed itself as the second-largest U.S. location data company, also agreed to delete all sensitive location data it collected illegally, and stop disclosing such data unless consumers agree, the FTC said.
“Openly selling a person’s location data to the highest bidder can expose people to harassment, stigma, discrimination or even physical violence,” FTC Chair Lina Khan said in a statement.
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