After several scandals that exposed how data brokers put members of the military, intelligence officials, and ordinary Americans at risk, consumer protection groups announced Tuesday a series of proposals that would limit how the industry sells sensitive personal information.
First, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau proposed a new law that would greatly limit the ability of data brokers to sell sensitive personal information of Americans by subjecting them to the same restrictions as credit bureaus such as Experian, Equifax, and TransUnion. Second, the Federal Trade Commission announced proposed settlement orders with data vendors Gravy Analytics, its subsidiary Venntel, and Mobilewalla that would prohibit the companies from using or sharing information about consumer visits to medical facilities, religious organizations, labor union offices, schools, military installations, and other sensitive areas.
“Persistent tracking by data brokers could put millions of Americans at risk, exposing the exact locations of service members or any medical treatment a person seeks,” FTC Chairwoman Lina Khan said in a statement.
Gravy Analytics did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
“Mobilewalla respects consumer privacy and has been improving our privacy protections throughout our history as a company,” wrote Laurie Hood, a spokeswoman for the company in an email. “While we disagree with many of the FTC’s allegations and the implications that Mobilewalla tracks and targets individuals based on sensitive categories, we are satisfied that the decision will allow us to continue to provide valuable information to businesses in a manner that respects and protects consumer privacy.”
As Congress hammers out privacy legislation, the CFPB’s proposed rule and the FTC’s proposed settlements mark some of the most significant federal efforts in years to prevent personal data and location history from being sold for any purpose to anyone.
While the fate of the enforcement actions will rest in the unpredictable hands of the incoming Trump administration, the proposals come on the heels of scandals that have revealed that the data broker industry is jeopardizing the safety of law enforcement, the military and spies, prompting criticism. on both sides.
Last month, a WIRED investigation found that data vendor Datastream Group was selling location data that could be used to track US military and intelligence personnel overseas. In September, researchers purchased location data and used it to track the movements of Securities and Exchange Commission investigators. Meanwhile, New Jersey police arrested more than 100 data brokers for failing to remove personal information, including their home addresses, from the Web as required by state law.
“These are not isolated incidents — they represent systemic vulnerabilities in the way our personal data is bought and sold,” CFPB Director Rohit Chopra said in a statement.
The CFPB says its new rule aims to prevent data brokers from freely selling that type of information, which in addition to endangering national security and law enforcement threatens the safety of domestic violence survivors and fuels many financial scams.
The proposal specifies that any company that sells information about a consumer’s credit history, credit score, debt payments, or income must follow the Fair Credit Reporting Act’s consumer reporting rules. That would limit the purposes for which data brokers can sell the information—for example, the law could prohibit the use of consumer report data to target ads—and require data vendors to obtain express consent from consumers before obtaining or sharing such information.
“This means that they will no longer be able to avoid their obligations and will need to follow the same consumer protection rules as the major credit bureaus, including requirements for accuracy and providing consumers with access to their information,” said Chopra.
Additionally, the law can restrict the sale of personal identifiers such as social security numbers and home addresses so that data brokers sell that information only for certain purposes.
Significantly, however, it will do little to restrict US law enforcement and spy agencies from purchasing such sensitive and personally identifiable information. As author Byron Tau reported, federal and state agencies have increasingly turned to data brokers like Gravy Analytics and Mobilewalla to obtain sensitive information without a warrant that can be used to track and profile Americans.
The FTC settlement also includes exceptions to sharing sensitive location data with national security and law enforcement agencies.
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