A digital marketing and analytics firm located in Idaho filed a lawsuit against the Federal Trade Commission for allegedly violating the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) Act through its data processes.
Kochava’s main business unit supplies mobile marketing attribution utilizing custom software applications, which are made available with the software-as-a-service model. The application makes it possible for its clients to get data points and statistics for digital promotion campaigns and programs. The second business unit aggregates third-party given mobile device data, which Kochava delivers via its information marketplace called the Kochava Collective.
Subsequent to the Supreme Court’s decision to reverse Wade v. Roe, privacy supporters have been vocal about their worry regarding the possibility for data brokers and authorities in several states to accumulate information concerning people who visit reproductive health clinics to consult concerning abortions. After the Supreme Court’s decision, the FTC declared its determination to completely impose the law against the illegal use and revealing of highly sensitive data, for instance, the collection and usage of end-user location information and unlawful privacy practices with regard to reproductive healthcare data.
The Kochava Collective provides data feeds and audience targeting to clients for promotional uses. The FTC states the Kochava Collective provides exact geolocation information that is linked to Mobile Advertising Identifiers (MAIDs), which suggests it is possible to find and keep tabs on consumers when they visit sensitive areas like reproductive health centers, therapist’s clinics, medical establishments, and addiction recovery clinics. The FTC furthermore claims that the data is time-stamped, thus it’s possible to say accurately when someone had been to a place and that no technical controls were in place to forbid Kochava’s clients from monitoring consumers when they stop by those locations. The gathering of IP address, longitude and latitude, and mobile advertising identifier details related to consumers’ devices breaks the FTC Act, as per the FTC, which is looking for a permanent injunction versus Kochava to stop potential FTC Act violations.
Kochava denies that its information could be employed by its customers to select and monitor persons and says that the FTC misinterpreted the services it gives. Kochava states that though the FTC is right with regard to the obtaining of latitude and longitude, IP addresses, and MAIDS connected with consumer gadgets, those data elements aren’t acquired until days after that, and the specified locations and users linked to MAIDs are not connected. Additionally, Kochava says in the lawsuit that the FTC is incorrect in telling that no technical settings were set up to stop its clients from keeping track of consumers when they go to sensitive places. Kochava claimed it included a new functionality on August 10, 2022, referred to as Privacy Block, which permits its clients to turn off the accumulating of sensitive location details for example visits to healthcare companies.
Kochava states that it functions consistently and proactively following all regulations and legislation, such as those particular to privacy. It additionally mentioned that the FTC has threatened the organization with a District Court lawsuit and an offered negotiation when the settlement and lawsuit are based upon erroneous data. Kochava furthermore states the FTC is going over and above its legal right to implement the FTC Act and is trying to make the firm a scapegoat so as to set a precedent throughout the ad tech market. Kochava submitted the lawsuit in order to have the Idaho Federal Court intercede.