Life360 sells user location data, sparking controversy

Family safety app Life360 collected and sold users' data to at least a dozen data brokers, prompting controversy about the company's transparency, ethics and approach to privacy. Used by approximately 33 million people worldwide, Life360 enables friends and family members to share their exact location . However, it was identified as one of the largest sources of raw data for the location data industry , with X-Mode, Cuebiq, Allstate 's Arity , Safegraph and other data brokers packaging and selling Life360 data 'to virtually anyone who wants to buy it'. The controversy led to Life360 announcing that it would stop selling precise location data . This decision came after reports revealed that Life360 was not sufficiently anonymising the data it sold . The company’s CEO, Chris Hulls, announced that Life360 would phase out all of its location data deals, except with Allstate’s Arity . However, the app would continue to sell location data to Placer.ai, but in an aggregated rather than raw, precise form . Despite these changes, the company faced a proposed class-action lawsuit alleging it sold users’ location data without permission . The suit was brought on behalf of a Florida minor and his family, who claimed they would not have used Life360 had they known about the data sales . System 🤖 Life360 🔗 Operator: Life360; X-Mode; Cuebiq; Allstate/Arity; Safegraph Developer: Life360 Country: Global Sector: Business/professional services Purpose: Track childrens' movements Technology: Location tracking Issue: Privacy; Security; Transparency Legal, regulatory 👩🏼‍⚖️ E.S. v. Life360 Inc.

Date it happened

2021-12-01

Organisation involved

Life360; X-Mode; Cuebiq; Allstate/Arity; Safegraph

Product, system or model

Life360

This is a record of what was reported, not a finding that anyone broke the law. If it names your organisation and you believe it is wrong, the corrections process is free and open to everyone.