FTC Files Amended Complaint Against Kochava for Selling Geolocation Data
In August last year, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) took legal action against the mobile data broker Kochava alleging the Idaho company had violated consumer privacy and put consumers at risk by selling geolocation data from their mobile phones, which was tied to each individual through the unique ID of their mobile device.
The FTC claimed Kochava sold the data from hundreds of millions of devices which could reveal that consumers had visited sensitive locations such as abortion clinics, mental health clinics, places of worship, and other sensitive locations. Since the information was tied to a user’s mobile device, companies that used Kochava’s data feeds would be able to identify and track specific mobile devices. As an example, the FTC claimed that individuals visiting reproductive health clinics for abortions could be identified, along with the medical professionals that provided those services, and those individuals could be exposed to stigma, discrimination, physical violence, emotional distress, prosecution, or other harms.
On May 4, 2023, a federal District Court Judge dismissed the complaint as the FTC failed to allege that consumers had been put at significant risk of harm, but left the door open for the FTC to continue with its legal action by allowing an amended complaint to be filed within 30 days. The FTC has now filed an amended complaint against Kochava that includes additional facts to support its allegations that Kochava engaged in unfair practices that violated the FTC Act and put consumers at significant risk of harm. The amended complaint includes new factual allegations that the FTC says are based, in part, on materials provided by Kochava in response to its Civil Investigative Demand.
The FTC has filed a motion to temporarily file the amended complaint under seal, as while the FTC does not believe any of the information detailed in the amended complaint reveals any trade secrets or other material that it believes should be subject to confidential treatment, the FTC anticipates Kochava may object to the public disclosure of that material. When the material was provided to the FTC, Kochava marked it as ‘proprietary’ and ‘highly confidential’. The FTC said it is acting “out of an abundance of caution,” and in accordance with internal rules covering the disclosure of proprietary and trade secret information by requesting the complaint be sealed until such point that the court decides that the material is not subject to confidential treatment.
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Kochava sought to have the initial complaint dismissed and is expected to file a motion to also have the FTC’s amended complaint dismissed. Kochava continues to maintain the company has proactively complied with all appropriate laws and has not violated consumer privacy.
