SoylentNews

Freeman [soylentnews.org] writes:

https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2023/11/data-brokers-staggering-sale-of-sensitive-info-exposed-in-unsealed-ftc-filing/ [arstechnica.com]

One of the world's largest mobile data brokers, Kochava, has lost its battle to stop the Federal Trade Commission from revealing what the FTC has alleged is a disturbing, widespread pattern of unfair use and sale of sensitive data without consent from hundreds of millions of people.

US District Judge B. Lynn Winmill recently unsealed a court filing [documentcloud.org], an amended complaint that perhaps contains the most evidence yet gathered by the FTC in its long-standing mission [ftc.gov] to crack down on data brokers allegedly "substantially" harming consumers by invading their privacy.

The FTC has accused Kochava of violating the FTC Act by amassing and disclosing "a staggering amount of sensitive and identifying information about consumers," alleging that Kochava's database includes products seemingly capable of identifying nearly every person in the United States.
[...]
the FTC is seeking a permanent injunction to stop Kochava from its allegedly unfair use and sale of consumer data.

Winmill wrote in an order [documentcloud.org] to unseal the amended complaint that the FTC still has to prove that Kochava has violated the FTC Act, but its arguments are sufficient to survive Kochava's motion for sanctions, which the judge's order also denied.

According to Winmill, Kochava "has not offered any compelling reason to maintain the amended complaint under seal."

"Certainly, the FTC’s allegations cast Kochava’s services in an unfavorable light," Winmill wrote. "But that is no reason to shield the complaint from public view."

Experts told The Record [therecord.media] that the ruling was "a promising turnaround in a landmark FTC action against a major data broker" and noted that unsealing the complaint has now revealed "Kochava’s shocking appetite for the most sensitive details of lives and the ways the company uses that data to profile, target, discriminate, and profit."
[...]
Winmill said that for now, the FTC has provided enough support for its allegations against Kochava for the lawsuit to proceed.

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