The FTC is examining how location data flows from apps to brokers to buyers, and whether anyone actually consented. The Federal Trade Commission has opened a broad inquiry into the location-data industry, sending information requests to a dozen brokers and app developers, according to people familiar with the matter. The inquiry focuses on a simple question: when a weather app collects a user’s precise location, what happens to it next? Investigators have found chains of as many as six intermediaries between the app and the final buyer. Industry groups say the data is anonymized. Researchers have repeatedly shown that a handful of location points is enough to identify most individuals.Your phone knows where you sleep. Regulators want to know who else does.
