“Geolocation data can reveal not just where a person lives and whom they spend time with but also, for example, which medical treatments they seek and where they worship,” said FTC Chair Lina M. Khan.
It’s a reminder again why so many are very sensitive about their metadata. Geolocation is only one form of metadata, and it is not about where you are right now. It’s about all the places you visit and what the associations are with those places. When matched with other people’s geolocation data, it shows who your friends are, who you work with, when you go to what religious institutions, where and when you shop, and it goes on and on.
These data brokers specialise though in putting lots of different metadata together to form the fuller picture. That information is worth a lot of money.
“As AI models further incentivize firms to vacuum up people’s personal data, placing limits on how firms can track and use sensitive information is paramount,” FTC Chair Lina Khan said.
I get that the FTC only has jurisdiction over US companies, but if these brokers are on US soil, or are owned by US companies, then the ban should extend to everyone’s data not being sold in this manner?
As of October 2023, Outlogic (formerly X-Mode Social) no longer exists as a separate company. It was acquired by Vertafore, a United States-based insurance technology company, in March 2023. However, Vertafore’s headquarters are located in Denver, Colorado, making the US the effective “country” of the data broker, albeit indirectly through its parent company.
It appears then to be a US owned company that is gathering and selling this data. The big question then is why is it being implied that they can still sell non-Americans data?