The U.S. Federal Trade Commission has reached its first settlement with a data broker over concerns that location tracking information, including information on domestic abuse shelters and reproductive health clinics, could be maliciously used by domestic abusers. Virginia-based Outlogic, which calls itself the second largest US location data company, agreed to establish policies to erase such sensitive information from its data that is collected from multiple sources and sold to various buyers. FTC Chair Lina Khan said in a statement "Openly selling a person's location data to the highest bidder can expose people to harassment, stigma, discrimination or even physical violence."
Compiled from: Jonathan Stemple, "US FTC reaches first location data tracking settlement," Reuters, Jan. 9, 2024.