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FTC bans X-Mode from selling phone location data, and orders firm to delete data
- toomuchtodo 3y agoFTC press release: https://www.ftc.gov/news-events/news/press-releases/2024/01/ftc-order-prohibits-data-broker-x-mode-social-outlogic-selling-sensitive-location-data https://www.ftc.gov/news-events/news/press-releases/2024/01/... Sen Wyden fighting the good fight in usual form: > Sen. Ron Wyden, whose office first revealed that X-Mode had sold location data to U.S. military contractors, said in response to the FTC’s findings: “I commend the FTC for taking tough action to hold this shady location data broker responsible for its sale of Americans’ location data.” https://www.vice.com/en/article/jgqm5x/us-military-location-data-xmode-locate-x https://www.vice.com/en/article/jgqm5x/us-military-location-... https://www.wsj.com/articles/apple-and-google-to-stop-x-mode-from-collecting-location-data-from-users-phones-11607549061 https://www.wsj.com/articles/apple-and-google-to-stop-x-mode... https://therecord.media/ftc-settles-case-geolocation-data-broker-xmode-outlogic https://therecord.media/ftc-settles-case-geolocation-data-br...
- 2OEH8eoCRo0 3y agoWhich defense contractor would want that data? Palantir?
- eli 3y agoThere are tons of contractors that are just middlemen, collecting and packaging data from other companies. See https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2022/06/how-federal-government-buys-our-cell-phone-location-data https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2022/06/how-federal-government... This way the government doesn't have to interact (or even be able to identify) where exactly the data is sourced from.
- smitty1110 3y agoThe contractor is just a smokescreen in this case. The point is the Government pays the contractor, which is what shows up in subpoenas and congressional budget hearings, and the paperwork says the contract is in support of Such and Such contract. If someone is using FOIA requests to gather information, They see DOD paid Foobar, inc. $56 million for the FUBAR contract. You then go to FUBAR, and you find the request and parameters, which are 300 pages of word salad, and then you read the proposals, which are 150 words each of a combination of buzzword bingo, legalese, and contracting pandering. None of which makes it obvious that the contract is "Buy data on our behalf, to shield the program from oversight".
- rqtwteye 3y agoI guess Wyden is doing the right by keeping low profile and just working on issues. But on the other hand I really would love to see him run for president. I don't always 100% agree with his initiatives but he really seems to be thoughtful and making a real effort in creating policies that make sense. Which is something that's out of fashion these days in DC.
- akira2501 3y agoI get the sentiment, but this pitch basically boils down to, "I love him as a legislator, I wonder if he'd be any good as an administrator?" I think the greatest fault is what this says about the complete lack of talent available in the modern administrative class.
- bdcravens 3y agohttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_principle https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_principle
- deleted 3y ago[deleted]
- beeburrt 3y agoWhat is X-mode?
- wnevets 3y agoa data broker stealing people's data for profit.
- JohnFen 3y agoIsn't that basically all of them?
- wnevets 3y agoWouldn't the FTC ban them if they were?
- afpx 3y agoApparently not - look at venntel for example.
- JohnFen 3y agoConsidering that I have only very rarely given consent for my data to be sold or shared, and yet my data is commonly and widely sold through "legitimate" data brokers regardless, I think it's pretty clear that the answer is "no". The FTC appears to require a much higher level of wrongdoing before effective punishment than I would prefer.
- gnabgib 3y agoFTC Complaint 212-3038: https://www.ftc.gov/system/files/ftc_gov/pdf/X-Mode-Complaint.pdf https://www.ftc.gov/system/files/ftc_gov/pdf/X-Mode-Complain...
- JohnMakin 3y agoThis is a great example of something that irks me during data privacy debates from the side of "well if there's no personally identifying data, it's fine." It would seem that since X-Mode only sells location data tied to a device, which is technically "anonymous" then this is likely why it flew under the radar for so long. It's not like they're saying "oh, such and such was here at this time." however, the reality is that ALL personal data is potentially personally identifying, especially when collected and analyzed in aggregate with other data sources. I wish the public conscious would somehow accept this fact and understand that personal data should always default to being in the hands of the user first.
- goodSteveramos 3y ago> I wish the public conscious would somehow accept this fact and understand If the only way for your government to protect its people from abusive and predatory business practices is for the general public to be familiar with the intricacies of how these abuses work then the way you select your political leaders sucks.
- lcnPylGDnU4H9OF 3y ago> the reality is that ALL personal data is potentially personally identifying To this point, an exercise for the reader might be to think about everywhere they've gone and how long they've been there for the past two weeks while considering every person who never left their side for this period. For the vast majority of people, that list will contain nobody, and that's why "anonymized" location data is still personal information.
- LanzVonL 3y agoI just engage the hardware modem kill switch on my Librem 5 when I'm not making a call. You all don't seriously carry around GovCorp beacon pods which are "always on" do you?
- bdcravens 3y agoHow do people get ahold of you?
- LanzVonL 3y agoThey are free to leave a message, and I'll get back at my leisure.
- local_crmdgeon 3y agoThis is also a much healthier way to live life
- LanzVonL 3y agoI'm old enough that I wasn't raised from birth with a digital dog collar.