The Federal Trade Commission will prohibit data broker Mobilewalla, Inc. from selling sensitive location data, including data that reveals the identity of an individual’s private home, to settle allegations the data broker sold such information without taking reasonable steps to verify consumers’ consent.
Under the FTC’s proposed settlement order (PDF), Mobilewalla will also be banned from collecting consumer data from online advertising auctions for purposes other than participating in those auctions, marking the first time the agency has alleged such a practice was an unfair act or practice.
The FTC alleges in a complaint (PDF) that Georgia-based Mobilewalla collected data from real-time bidding exchanges and third-party aggregators. Often consumers had no knowledge that Chamblee-Georgia-based Mobilewalla had obtained their data.
“Mobilewalla collected massive amounts of sensitive consumer data – including visits to health clinics and places of worship – and sold this data in a way that exposed consumers to harm,” said Samuel Levine, Director of the FTC’s Bureau of Consumer Protection. “The FTC is acting today to stop these invasive practices and protect the public from always-on surveillance.”