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Two U.S. data brokers have agreed not to collect private fix data on Americans as part of a twosome of settlements with the U.S. Federal Trade Commission , which accused the companies of unlawfully tracking millions of people near to sensible locations like health care facilities and military bases .
The two settlement , announced Tuesday , will disallow Virginia - found Gravy Analytics and Georgia - based Mobilewalla from collecting and retaining hoi polloi ’s sore granular position data point . This agreement was reached after the FTC accused the two data brokers — companies that profit from collecting vast amounts of people ’s personal information and sell it to others — of selling millions of identifiable location information points , including where people visited clinics and places of worship .
The FTCallegesthat Gravy Analytics , along with its underling Venntel , collected and used consumers ’ location data for commercial and government uses without find consent from the individuals . The organization allegedly continued to expend this data even after learning that consumers had n’t cater informed consent for their information to be sold .
Gravy Analytics also below the belt sold sensitive information about individual , such as health or aesculapian decision , political bodily process and religious vantage point , that had been derived and determined based on a person ’s position data , allot to the FTC ’s complaint .
Mobilewalla isalso accusedof selling sensible positioning data , including data that could reveal the identity of an individual ’s private home , the U.S. federal regulator said .
The FTC alleges that Mobilewalla obtained much of this information from tangible - sentence bidding exchanges and third - party collector , which imply consumers did not be intimate that the organization had obtained their personal information . This data point was not anonymized , grant to the complaint , and Mobilewalla is accused of having no policy in station to slay sensitive localisation from the information before it sold the information to third parties .
The FTC says that Mobilewalla also used sensitive location data to acquire interview segments to target consumers for advertising . For representative , the company created a June 2020 report examine people who protested the death of George Floyd and determined the objector ’ racial backgrounds and whether they lived in the cities in which they protest , harmonize to the FTC .
Under the two small town announced on Monday , Gravy Analytics and Mobilewalla will no longer pull together sensitive location datum on consumer , and must erase the historic data they have collected on millions of Americans .
Both system will also have to keep up a sensitive localisation data political program , whereby they must rise a tilt of sore location and prevent the use , sale , license , transfer , communion , or revelation of consumer ’ visits to those locations . These locations include medical facilities , spiritual constitution , school , and correctional facilities .
Gravy Analytics and Mobilewalla did not immediately answer to TechCrunch ’s questions .
This is the latest action at law taken by the U.S. government as the Biden government draws to a close . On Monday , the Consumer Financial Protection Bureauproposeda raw rule that would block information broker from selling personal and financial data on Americans , include their Social Security numbers and phone numbers .
