FCC slaps four major US carriers with a fine over selling customers' location data
FCC fined major US carriers for sharing customers' location data without consent. This violation underscores the risk to users' privacy when data is improperly handled. [ more ]
FTC Bars X-Mode from Selling Sensitive Location Data
Phone app location data brokers pose a threat to privacy and safety by selling our location data to advertisers and even police.
The Federal Trade Commission has taken action against X-Mode Social for collecting and selling raw location data to marketers and government contractors. [ more ]
Fourth Amendment is Not For Sale Act Passed the House, Now it Should Pass the Senate
The Fourth Amendment is Not For Sale Act passed the U.S. House of Representatives, protecting location data privacy, advocates for privacy rights, and closing a dangerous loophole. [ more ]
How your sensitive data can be sold after a data broker goes bankrupt
Near, a company with a large location data set, faced bankruptcy after going public with a $1 billion valuation.
The bankruptcy raised concerns about the fate of Near's sensitive location data, prompting a call for the data's destruction to protect consumers' privacy. [ more ]
Feds crack down hard on selling of personal data without consent
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has banned InMarket Media from selling or licensing people's precise geolocation data, highlighting the government's crackdown on data brokers.
InMarket allegedly gathered consumer location data from mobile apps and used it for targeted advertising without users' informed consent. [ more ]
Google keeps location history data including abortion clinics despite vow to delete, new study shows
Google still retains location history data from visits to abortion clinics in 50% of cases despite their pledge to delete it.
Research conducted by tech advocacy group Accountable Tech found that Google's rate of retention of location history data has improved slightly but is still not in line with their original promise. [ more ]
Google will stop telling law enforcement which users were near a crime
Google is changing its Maps tool to no longer have access to users' individual location histories, blocking law enforcement from obtaining data on everyone near a crime.
Location data will now be saved directly on users' devices to keep it safe and private. [ more ]
Google Will Stop Providing Law Enforcement Data on Which Users Were Near a Crime
Google is changing its Maps tool to prevent access to users' individual location histories, making it more difficult for law enforcement to obtain data on everyone in the vicinity of a crime.
The change comes after a Bloomberg investigation revealed that police were increasingly using warrants to obtain location and search data from Google, even for nonviolent cases and individuals unrelated to the crime. [ more ]
FTC wins first settlement banning sale of location data
The US Federal Trade Commission has reached a settlement with data broker X-Mode Social, prohibiting them from sharing or selling sensitive location data.
X-Mode was accused of selling raw non-anonymized location data collected through its own apps and an SDK found in hundreds of popular apps on Apple and Android devices. [ more ]