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Now here’s a Federal Trade Commission lawsuit that the public can get behind, even if it ultimately doesn’t go through in favor of the agency.

FTC officials on Monday sued one of the country’s larger data brokers, Kochava, for violating federal law by acquiring and selling data that tracks consumers’ precise movements through their cellphones. Attorneys for the agency said in a complaint that Kochava’s clients could use the data to identify the addresses of tens of millions of people, as well as their visits to sensitive locations (medical offices, domestic violence shelters, places of worship, etc.).

The lawsuit comes after the new Democratic majority of the FTC board, led by Chairman Lina Khan, filed the agency’s first blockbuster case since it came to power, alleging that Facebook parent Meta’s planned acquisition of a emerging virtual reality fitness app violates federal antitrust laws. While Big Tech enemies applauded the move, some legal analysts said the case rested on weak legal arguments and Bloomberg reported Khan dismissed staffers who opposed the lawsuit. Several prominent entrepreneurs also argued that the Meta lawsuit, if successful, would deter investment in innovative companies.

Compared to the Meta case, the FTC’s political pretext for its strike against Kochava is certainly stronger.

The $200 billion data broker industry essentially puts profit over privacy — and Americans aren’t happy about that. A poll last year of about 2,000 registered voters by Morning Consult found that 83% of respondents believed privacy legislation should be a “top” or “important but lower” priority for Congress. Four in five respondents said they thought it was “very” or “somewhat” important to include geolocation data in new privacy laws.

This year, Congress has responded. Lawmakers have bickered over extensive privacy legislation in recent months, with a House committee in July passing a sweeping, bipartisan bill known as the American Data Privacy and Protection Act, by 53-2 votes. The legislation would limit the ability of commercial entities to collect and use large amounts of data, and would also add new transparency requirements for data collectors. (The bill still faces major hurdles in the Senate, where some influential members argue the legislation is too weak and overrides stronger state privacy protections.)

But similar to the Meta lawsuit, the FTC is treading potentially shaky legal ground in its crusade against Kochava.

The FTC’s attorneys argue that Kochava is violating federal law that prohibits “unfair or deceptive acts or practices in or that affect commerce.”

To prove this, the FTC must show that Kochava “caused or is likely to cause significant harm to consumers.” In its complaint, the FTC alleges that Kochava’s sale of data “unjustifiably infringes on the most private areas of consumers’ lives,” which constitutes “significant harm.”

FTC attorneys offer a specific example of harm, citing a publicly available sample of Kochava data tracing a device to a women’s reproductive health clinic and single-family home. FTC officials also include some hypothetical examples of Kochava customers using the data to match home addresses to religious facilities and shelters for vulnerable people.

However, the FTC does not provide concrete examples of how a Kochava customer’s knowledge of a mobile device owner’s movements has resulted in physical injury, monetary loss, reputational damage, or embarrassment.

While it’s easy to imagine all sorts of undesired consequences from misused or widely publicized tracking data, a judge may be more interested in real-life examples of harm. If the FTC doesn’t provide it, a judge may have to decide whether the privacy implications of mobile data sharing will only cause “significant harm” to consumers, or whether the potential harm associated with Kochava’s business practices meets the ” likely to cause significant harm” default. (Kochava argued in a preemptive legal filing last month that it “does not uniquely identify users” and invited customers to join a new feature that “blocks health service location sharing” .)

The FTC must also prove that the substantial damage cannot “reasonably be avoided by the consumer themselves” — a point where Kochava could make a decent case.

As Kochava officials wrote in last month’s legal filing, mobile phone and app users can opt out of tracking features. While many consumers are unaware of those choices, and technology companies often make it difficult to opt out of monitoring, it’s not Kochava’s fault.

“The consumer agreed to share their location data with an app developer,” Kochava’s lawyers wrote. “As such, the consumer may reasonably expect that this data will include the consumer’s locations, even locations that the consumer deems sensitive.”

The FTC could very well lose its case against Kochava on legal grounds. But this time, at least the court of public opinion would have to rule overwhelmingly in favor of the FBI.

Want to send thoughts or suggestions for Data sheet? Notify me here.

Jacob Timmerman

NEWSWORTHY

On closer inspection. a former Twitter The executive’s claims about widespread security vulnerabilities at the company include: now part of Elon Muskcase for pulling out of a $44 billion deal to buy the outfit, Bloomberg reported Monday. The Tesla The CEO’s lawyers filed a file advocating “major flaws” in the platform’s security and privacy protocols, including those outlined last week by former Twitter head of security. Peter Zatko, constitute a violation of the merger agreement. Musk has previously tried to break the deal by claiming that Twitter does not accurately measure the prevalence of bots on its platform, Twitter officials have refuted.

Beyond the console. Sony announced plans Monday to acquire Savage Game Studios and fold the developer into a newly created mobile gaming unit, TechCrunch reported. The effort involves building mobile games based on intellectual property linked to Sony’s PlayStation console. Savage Game Studios was founded in 2020 by three developers with extensive experience at some of the mobile game industry’s biggest outfits, but the two-year-old group has yet to produce any publicly available titles.

A battle in Bayou State. Tesla has submitted lawsuit against Louisiana law banning the sale of vehicles directly to consumers, waging its latest legal battle against car dealers and their supporters in state legislatures, The Wall Street Journal reported. The leading electric car maker argues that the five-year-old statute violates the protection of interstate commerce. Tesla has fought direct sales laws in several states where car dealers have lobbied for the funneling of car purchases through independent activities.

Why is there a delay? Donald TrumpThe TRUTH Social Android app will remain unavailable in the Play Store because the platform has not complied with Google’s policy around content moderation, Axios reported Tuesday. The delay comes as multiple reports suggest that TRUTH Social is facing mounting financial and legal challenges, some of which are standing in the way of a planned merger with a dedicated acquisition company. Google officials said they notified TRUTH Social of several content moderation issues two weeks ago, while the platform’s CEO, former congressman Devin Nuneshas claimed that Google is slow to approve.

FOOD FOR THOUGHT

A big red light. As Twitter considered launching an adult content competitor Only Fans, a team of contributors came to a surprising conclusion: The platform is still unable to identify child sexual exploitation and non-consensual nudity on a large scale. The Verge reported on Tuesday that the episode highlighted Twitter’s long-standing problems with removing abusive content on the social media site, which lacks many of the tools used by meta, Apple, Google and other tech giants. The discovery of Twitter’s shortcomings came when employees tested a new project aimed at monetizing adult content posted to the platform by creators, which has historically been more lenient to pornography than other sites. Twitter officials previously signaled problems with spotting illegal sexual content in early 2021, but the recent exercise suggests business leaders have not taken swift action to allay the concerns.

Of the article:

Before the final go-ahead, however, Twitter convened 84 employees to form a so-called “Red Team.” The goal was “to push the decision to let adult creators monetize the platform, by focusing specifically on what it would look like for Twitter to do so safely and responsibly,” according to documents obtained by The Verge and interviews with current and former Twitter employees.

What the Red Team discovered derailed the project: Twitter couldn’t safely allow adult creators to sell subscriptions because the company didn’t effectively monitor harmful sexual content on the platform and still doesn’t.

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BEFORE YOU GO

Landing in warm water. Excuse me, is that a pool in your backyard? The French authorities have asked this question to thousands of homeowners in recent months, because part of an AI-enabled crackdown on residents who fishing from the taxman, The Washington Post reported on Tuesday. While French homeowners are expected to notify tax officials upon completion of a residential swimming pool construction, software is developed by Google and a Paris-based technology company. Capgemini helped authorities identify undeclared pools using aerial photos of yards and local property databases. They’ve already maintained about 20,000 covert pools so far, which will bring in nearly $10 million in additional tax revenue. Sneaky swimmers are especially angered this summer in France, where record high temperatures have led to drought.