FTC-PR-240109-2
Date Released: 
January 9, 2024
Headline:
FTC-PR-240109-2 – FTC Order Prohibits Data Broker X-Mode Social and Outlogic from Selling Sensitive Location Data – FTC charges X-Mode and Outlogic with selling raw location data, failing to obtain informed consumer consent
Excerpt:
Data broker X-Mode Social and its successor Outlogic will be prohibited from sharing or selling any sensitive location data to settle Federal Trade Commission 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.
In its first settlement with a data broker concerning the collection and sale of sensitive location information, the FTC also charged that Virginia-based X-Mode Social and Outlogic, LLC, the successor firm to which X-Mode transferred most of its operations in 2021, failed to put in place reasonable and appropriate safeguards on the use of such information by third parties. Today’s action underscores the FTC’s strong commitment to restraining the collection, sale, or disclosure of consumers’ sensitive location data.
“Geolocation data can reveal not just where a person lives and whom they spend time with but also, for example, which medical treatments they seek and where they worship. The FTC’s action against X-Mode makes clear that businesses do not have free license to market and sell Americans’ sensitive location data,” said FTC Chair Lina M. Khan. “By securing a first-ever ban on the use and sale of sensitive location data, the FTC is continuing its critical work to protect Americans from intrusive data brokers and unchecked corporate surveillance.”
https://www.ftc.gov/news-events/news/press-releases/2024/01/ftc-order-prohibits-data-broker-x-mode-social-outlogic-selling-sensitive-location-data
[Date Accessed: 3/3/2024]
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