United States of America: Proposed FTC consent order against Gravy Analytics and Venntel over collection and sale of sensitive location data without verifiable user consent

On 3 December 2024, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) issued a consent order against Gravy Analytics and its subsidiary Venntel, banning the sale or use of sensitive consumer location data. Additionally, Gravy Analytics and Venntel must establish a sensitive data location programme, including the deletion of all historic location data, informing customers to delete or de-identify data collected in the past three years, and ensuring customers provide consent for data collection and use. The FTC alleged that the companies continued to use consumer location data after learning customers had not provided consent and also sold data with sensitive characteristics, including health or medical decisions, political activities, and religious viewpoints, derived from consumers’ location data.