Free Press Welcomes FTC Actions to Rein in Privacy Violations from Data Brokers
WASHINGTON — On Tuesday, the Federal Trade Commission issued proposed orders against data brokers Gravy Analytics (along with its subsidiary Venntel) and Mobilewalla. When the orders are finalized, all three companies will be banned from using or selling consumers’ sensitive location data.
The Commission alleged that all three companies collected, used and sold precise location data without consumers’ consent. According to the complaint, Gravy Analytics and Venntel collected, processed and curated location data from more than a billion mobile devices daily, then sold that information — which could be used to identify specific individuals. All three companies also collected and advertised location data bundled according to sensitive characteristics: For example, Mobilewalla collected location data from women who visited maternity clinics and also tracked people who protested George Floyd’s murder to determine their racial identities and where they lived.
The FTC’s complaint against Gravy Analytics also highlights the grave risks posed by data brokers’ sale of sensitive location data to the U.S. government, including law-enforcement agencies. FTC Commissioner Alvaro Bedoya wrote that subsidiary Venntel’s public-sector clients reportedly include the Department of Homeland Security, the Drug Enforcement Administration, the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Internal Revenue Service. Bedoya also noted that the Supreme Court held in Carpenter v. United States that accessing just one week of cell-site location-data records constitutes a Fourth Amendment search: “Carpenter said that to get this data, you need a warrant; Venntel lets them get it without a warrant.”
Free Press Action has repeatedly called for congressional action to curb the sale of sensitive location data to law-enforcement agencies, urging both House and Senate leadership to champion the Fourth Amendment Is Not For Sale Act. The House passed the bill in April.
Today’s proposed orders follow the Commission’s enforcement action earlier this year against location-data broker X-Mode and its successor, Outlogic. Free Press filed a comment supporting the FTC’s proposed order in that case.
Free Press Policy Counsel Jenna Ruddock said:
“Free Press applauds the FTC’s continued efforts to rein in the abusive practices of the shady and still largely unregulated data-broker industry. Most Americans would be shocked to learn how these companies’ routine practices systematically violate our fundamental expectations of privacy. These brokers buy and sell precise location data on everyone from racial-justice protesters to pregnant people visiting health-care facilities. This information has also been used to identify and track military officials as well as people attending prayer services. And it is all available to the highest bidder — which includes U.S. law enforcement agencies, posing grave risks to our Fourth Amendment rights.
“Robust agency authority and action are critical, particularly given the opacity surrounding data brokers’ collection and sale of our personal information. In particular, the FTC continues to play a key role in illuminating and mitigating abuse while developing consumer safeguards. The unconstitutional and ravenous overreach by corporate actors won’t simply end organically. Ongoing agency enforcement is a vital step that must be paired with much-needed congressional action on measures including the Fourth Amendment Is Not for Sale Act.”
