FTC to Ban Firms From Selling Sensitive Location DataFTC to Ban Firms From Selling Sensitive Location Data

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) on Tuesday announced action against Gravy Analytics and Venntel Inc. and a separate action against Mobilewalla that would ban the companies from selling sensitive location data.

The FTC’s complaint against the companies alleges Virginia-based Gravy Analytics and its subsidiary Venntel violated the FTC Act by unfairly selling sensitive consumer location data, and by collecting and using consumers’ location data without consent for commercial and government uses. Gravy Analytics, the complaint says, also sold health and medical decisions, political activities, and religious views collected from location data.

In the case of Georgia-based Mobilewalla, the FTC alleges the company collected more than 500 million unique consumer advertising identifiers paired with precise location data between January 2018 and June 2020. The company sold the raw data to third parties, including advertisers, data brokers, and analytics firms, the FTC says.

In a statement, FTC Chair Lina Khan said, “Persistent tracking by data brokers can put millions of Americans at risk, exposing the precise locations where service members are stationed or which medical treatments someone is seeking. Mobilewalla exploited vulnerabilities in digital ad markets to harvest this data at a stunning scale.”

In a message to information, Mobilewalla CEO Anindya Datta pushed back on the FTC’s case, but accepted the results. “Mobilewalla respects consumer privacy and has been evolving our privacy protections throughout our history as a company,” he says. “While we disagree with many of the FTC’s allegations and implications that Mobilewalla tracks and targets individuals based on sensitive categories, we are satisfied that the resolution will allow us to continue providing valuable insights to businesses in a manner that respects and protects consumer privacy.”

FTC had strong words for the companies' practices.

“Surreptitious surveillance by data brokers undermines our civil liberties and puts servicemembers, union workers, religious minorities, and others at risk,” Samuel Levine, director of the FTC’s Bureau of Consumer Protection, said in a statement. “This is the FTC’s fourth action taken this year challenging the sale of sensitive location data, and it’s past time for the industry to get serious about protecting Americans’ privacy.”

The FTC also alleged Gravy Analytics and Venntel obtained consumer location information from other data suppliers and claimed to collect, process, and curate more than 17 billion signals from a billion mobile devices daily.

The complaint also alleges Gravy Analytics used geofencing to create a virtual geographical boundary to identify and sell lists of consumers who attended certain events related to medical conditions and places of worship. The unauthorized data brokering put consumers at risk of stigma, discrimination, violence, and other harms, according to the complaint.

“You may not know a lot about Gravy Analytics, but Gravy Analytics may know a lot about you,” reads a joint statement by FTC commissioners Alvaro M. Bedoya, Rebecca Kelly Slaughter, Melissa Holyoak, and Khan.

Gravy Analytics merged with Unacast last year. The company’s website says it offers “location intelligence for every business.” Mobilewalla’s website says its products “make your AI smarter with high-quality, privacy compliant consumer data and predictive feature …”

information has reached out to Gravy Analytics and Mobilewalla for comment and will update with any response.