August 30, 2022
The Federal Trade Commission has sued data broker Kochava for violating users’ privacy by selling the exact location of millions of mobile devices.
Kochava, it is alleged, gathers a wealth of consumer information by acquiring data from other data brokers to sell to its own customers, and helps advertise and analyze visitor numbers in stores or other locations. Kochava also sells time-stamped latitude and longitude coordinates for mobile devices.
The company parade itself as a real-time data solutions company offering the leading omni-channel measurement and attribution solutions for data-driven marketers.
Kochava, on the other hand, has denied any wrongdoing in a countersuit filed on August 12, claiming that they lack understanding of its services, and that the MAID information is linked to hashed emails and primary IP addresses.
“This lawsuit shows the unfortunate reality that the FTC has a fundamental misunderstanding of Kochava’s data marketplace business and other data businesses. Kochava operates consistently and proactively in compliance with all rules and laws, including those specific to privacy,” Kochava Collective General Manager Brian Cox said in a statement.
The lawsuit follows warnings to businesses about illegally using and communicating critical data, as well as bogus statements about data privacy protection.
The sources for this piece include an article in CNBC.
