FTC Cracks Down on Unauthorized Sale of Personal Location Data

The US Federal Trade Commission has taken action against data broker InMarket Media for selling consumers' precise geolocation data without their consent for targeted advertising, marking the first ban of its kind. InMarket was found to have collected location data from mobile apps without informing users of its use for advertising, slicing and dicing the data to target specific consumer groups. The FTC settlement requires InMarket to stop selling or licensing the data, delete or anonymize previously collected data, and reaffirm its data use policies. This crackdown reflects the FTC's ongoing scrutiny of data brokers and growing privacy regulations surrounding personal data, particularly sensitive location information.