United States of America: Federal Trade Commission issued finalised order against Mobilewalla over collection and sale of sensitive location data without verification of consumers’ consent

On 13 January 2025, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) finalised a settlement order against Mobilewalla, prohibiting the company from selling sensitive location data. The FTC's complaint, filed in December 2024, alleged that Mobilewalla unlawfully tracked and sold consumers' location data, including visits to healthcare facilities and places of worship. Under the final order, Mobilewalla is prohibited from collecting consumer information from online real-time bidding ad exchanges for any purpose other than participating in those auctions. The company is also prohibited from misrepresenting its privacy practices and from using, transferring, selling or disclosing location data from sensitive locations such as health clinics, religious organisations and military installations. The order requires Mobilewalla to develop a sensitive location data programme, implement a vendor assessment programme to verify consumer consent to data collection, and provide consumers with a mechanism to access and delete their location data upon request.