The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has issued a landmark ban on data brokers Mobilewalla and Gravy Analytics, prohibiting them from collecting and selling sensitive location data across the United States. The companies were found to have illegally harvested location information from visits to sensitive establishments including churches, healthcare facilities, military installations, and educational institutions.

Investigation revealed that Gravy Analytics and its subsidiary Venntel provided federal agencies, including the IRS, DEA, FBI, CBP, and ICE, with access to three years of precise location data. Mobilewalla’s data collection was particularly extensive, tracking over 2 billion unique advertising identifiers between 2018-2020, 183 million devices in 2021, and 10 million devices in early 2022.

Under the settlement terms, both companies must:
• Cease all collection and sale of sensitive location data
• Implement dedicated sensitive data location programs
• Delete all historical location data and derived products
• Mobilewalla specifically is banned from collecting consumer data through online advertising auctions

This enforcement action is part of a broader FTC initiative targeting location data brokers, with similar actions previously taken against Kochava, InMarket Media, and Outlogic for unlawful tracking and selling of Americans’ sensitive location information.