All articles tagged with #location data
The Supreme Court denied Verizon's bid to reclaim the $47 million FCC penalty tied to selling customers' device-location data, ending its chance for further review; AT&T and T-Mobile continue challenging similar fines as the broader question of location-data rules under telecom law persists.
The Supreme Court ruled that cellphone location data held by third parties is protected as a Fourth Amendment search, limiting geofence warrants that sweep everyone in an area; in Chatrie v. United States the Court sent the case back to the Fourth Circuit to evaluate whether the multistep process meets the warrant's 'probable cause' and 'particularity' requirements, reinforcing privacy protections in the digital age.
The Supreme Court ruled 6-3 that geofence warrants—police requests for location data from smartphone users in a geographic area—are Fourth Amendment searches and must be protected by privacy safeguards, rejecting arguments that short-term data or voluntary sharing negate privacy interests and signaling tighter scrutiny of digital surveillance tools.
The Supreme Court ruled 6-3 that people have a privacy interest in their mobile-device location data, even when shared with tech companies, so police generally need a warrant to obtain it. The decision in Chatrie v. United States extends Fourth Amendment protections to data held by Google/Apple and narrows geofence warrants, with dissent from Alito, Barrett and Thomas.
The Supreme Court, in an 8-1 decision, upheld the FCC’s power to fine AT&T, Verizon, and, by extension, T-Mobile for mishandling and selling real-time location data, ruling that fines can proceed without a jury trial; carriers faced about $100 million in penalties split between AT&T (~$57M) and Verizon (~$47M), with similar sums tied to related actions against T-Mobile. Chief Justice Roberts wrote for the majority, while Justice Thomas dissented, arguing the process could have allowed a jury trial. The ruling strengthens privacy enforcement but underscores how slowly accountability unfolds in data-misuse cases.
Apple is expected to switch the iPhone 18 lineup to Apple-designed modems, phasing out Qualcomm and boosting efficiency. A privacy benefit accompanies the transition: iOS 26.3 adds Limit Precise Location, which restricts carrier location data to neighborhoods rather than street-level addresses; the setting currently exists on devices with Apple’s C1/C1X modems and is likely to expand to iPhone 18 Pro and Fold as Apple’s modem strategy broadens, though carrier support varies by country and does not affect Location Services or emergency location accuracy.
Photos often embed EXIF metadata with GPS coordinates that can reveal where you were; you can view this data in Google Photos, Apple Photos, Windows, and macOS, and remove or wipe location data using built-in tools (e.g., Apple Photos) or dedicated apps such as ExifTool or ExifViewer.Pro. You can also stop saving location by denying camera location access on Android or iOS, though that may limit location-based search in photo apps. Some sites automatically strip location data when you upload images.
Microsoft is rolling out a feature that allows employers to access employees' device location data via its enterprise tools, sparking privacy concerns as who can view and control the data depends on admin settings and company policy.
The Supreme Court will decide whether dragnet geofence warrants that collect smartphone location data are unconstitutional, a dispute sparked by Okello Chatrie’s conviction tied to a search of Google data; with appellate courts split (5th Circuit labeling geofence warrants inherently unconstitutional and the 4th Circuit divided), the ruling could redefine privacy expectations and police access to location information in future investigations.
FLOSS Weekly Episode 767 features a discussion with JP Mens about Owntracks, an open-source project that enables users to manage their location data. Owntracks uses MQTT to send position data to a central server and offers features such as sharing trips, marking points of interest, and playback of movement. The project's source code is available on GitHub, and it can be integrated with other projects like Home Assistant.
The US Federal Trade Commission has taken action against data broker InMarket Media for selling consumers' precise geolocation data without their consent for targeted advertising, marking the first ban of its kind. InMarket was found to have collected location data from mobile apps without informing users of its use for advertising, slicing and dicing the data to target specific consumer groups. The FTC settlement requires InMarket to stop selling or licensing the data, delete or anonymize previously collected data, and reaffirm its data use policies. This crackdown reflects the FTC's ongoing scrutiny of data brokers and growing privacy regulations surrounding personal data, particularly sensitive location information.
The FTC has ordered data aggregator InMarket Media to stop selling precise location data and to strengthen consumer protections after finding that the company did not fully inform consumers or obtain their consent before collecting and using their location data for advertising and marketing. InMarket will be prohibited from selling, licensing, or sharing products or services that categorize or target consumers based on sensitive location data, and must delete previously collected location data unless obtaining consumer consent. This is the second recent case brought by the FTC involving the unfair collection of location data, and the proposed order will be subject to public comment before finalization.
The FTC has banned data broker X-Mode from selling users' sensitive location data and ordered the firm, now known as Outlogic, to delete all previously collected location data unless consumer consent is obtained. X-Mode faced scrutiny for selling access to Americans' commercial location data to the U.S. government and military contractors. The FTC alleged that X-Mode sold precise location data that could be used to track people's visits to sensitive locations and failed to implement safeguards against downstream use of this data. The settlement also requires X-Mode to establish procedures to protect the privacy of consumers' personal information and ensure that recipients of its location data do not associate the data with sensitive locations.
The Biden administration reached its first settlement on a privacy issue by stopping a company, Outlogic (formerly X-Mode Social), from selling data on people's medical visits, particularly visits to abortion providers. The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) found that Outlogic collected location data on people's visits to medical facilities and then shared it with a clinical research company for marketing and advertising, leading to a significant privacy violation. The settlement requires Outlogic to delete all previously collected data without consent and provide an opt-out option for its location data collection. Privacy advocates are concerned about the potential misuse of location data, including targeting individuals seeking abortion and prosecuting them.
The FTC has ordered data broker X-Mode Social and its successor Outlogic to stop selling sensitive location data, such as visits to medical and reproductive health clinics, religious worship places, and domestic abuse shelters. The FTC alleges that the companies failed to implement reasonable safeguards and informed consent practices, exposing consumers to potential harm. The proposed order also requires the companies to delete collected location data, develop a supplier assessment program, and establish a comprehensive privacy program. The consent agreement will be subject to public comment for 30 days before the Commission decides whether to make it final.