Two location data businesses were accused by the Federal Trade Commission of illegally tracking and selling private consumer information, and the agency announced that it is pursuing action against them.
According to a proposed FTC ruling, Venntel and its parent company, Gravy Analytics, Inc., are prohibited from selling, revealing, or utilizing sensitive location data in any kind of product or service. Additionally, the businesses need to set up a mechanism for locating sensitive data.
The FTC claims that the Department of Homeland Security, the Drug Enforcement Administration, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and the Internal Revenue Service are among the federal law enforcement organizations that use Venntel.
claims that by gathering and selling customer data without the required consent, Venntel and Gravy Analytics broke the FTC Act. According to a news release from the FTC, Gravy Analytics reportedly established a virtual geographic border in order to find and sell lists of customers who attended specific events pertaining to medical issues and places of worship. According to the statement, the Virginia-based business also allegedly sold extra lists that connected customers to other sensitive attributes.
Samuel Levine, Director of the FTC’s Bureau of Consumer Protection, stated in a statement that covert surveillance by data brokers jeopardizes our civil freedoms and endangers religious minorities, union workers, service members, and others. It’s past time for the industry to start protecting Americans’ privacy seriously, as this is the fourth action the FTC has taken this year to challenge the selling of sensitive location data.
According to FTC Commissioner Alvaro Bedoya, it is obvious that this behavior is unlawful.
According to the FTC, Venntel’s and Gravy Analytics’ conduct put customers at risk of stigma, discrimination, assault, and other negative effects in addition to possible privacy concerns.
Venntel and Gravy Analytics did not immediately respond to NBC News’ request for comment on Tuesday.
According to the FTC, the companies are prohibited from using sensitive location data related to medical facilities, correctional facilities, religious institutions, military installations, schools and daycare centers, and shelters that provide services to refugees, the homeless, or survivors of domestic abuse.
According to the FTC, the corporations are also prohibited from gathering information from customers who have chosen not to receive targeted advertising and must make sure that their clients do not use their data to track individuals to political events or identify someone’s house. If the businesses do not comply with the FTC’s proposed ruling, they must also remove all sensitive data they have previously gathered.
The FTC said a $51,744 penalties could be imposed for each violation of a consent decree. A 30-day public comment period may follow the approval of the final consent decree.
On the same day that the proposed consent order was announced, the US agency responsible for protecting financial consumers, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, released a press release stating that the proposed rule “would limit the sale of personal identifiers like Social Security Numbers and phone numbers collected by certain companies and make sure that people’s financial data like income is only shared for legitimate purposes.”
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