When we talk about privacy concerns in the digital age, the conversation often revolves around big tech companies like Google and Facebook. But there's a shadowy world of businesses that collect and sell personal data for profit, known as data brokers. And they're not always playing by the rules.
One such company, Kochva, has recently come under fire from the US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) for selling geolocation data from hundreds of millions of mobile devices.
This data could be used to track people's movements to sensitive locations such as fertility clinics, places of worship, addiction recovery centers, and shelters for the homeless and survivors of domestic violence.
Kochva's business model is based on secretly collecting, analyzing, and selling people's personal information. And they're not the only ones.
Other data brokers have been caught publishing real-time GPS locations of Americans, tracking Black Lives Matter protesters to identify people's characteristics, and providing location data to law enforcement agencies without a warrant.
What's particularly alarming is that most people aren't even aware that their data is being collected in the first place. Data brokers have no direct contact with individuals, so the collection of data happens in secret. And when this sensitive information is sold, it puts many people at risk, especially those who are on the margins of society and are particularly vulnerable.
The FTC has filed a lawsuit against Kochva, alleging that the company violated the "Unfair or Deceptive Acts or Practices" section of the FTC Act by selling highly sensitive location information that posed a risk of "substantial harm" to consumers. The agency argues that people who are being tracked without their knowledge cannot reasonably avoid the potential damages on their own.
While lawsuits against data brokers are not unprecedented, they have previously focused on behavior such as facilitating criminal fraud. This case could set a new precedent for brokering people's highly sensitive information, and reinforce the fact that it is grounds for a lawsuit.
As individuals, it's important to be aware of the dark side of data brokers and take steps to protect our privacy. This could mean using privacy-focused search engines, installing ad-blockers, and being cautious when sharing personal information online. But ultimately, it's up to lawmakers and regulatory agencies to hold data brokers accountable for their actions and protect consumers from the potentially harmful consequences of their business practices.
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