In 2020, Life360 came out with a policy against selling data to any government agencies for law enforcement purposes. The second cause for concern has to do with whom the data ends up with. He claims that Life360 relies on its customers to “obfuscate that data based on their specific applications.” Life360 Data Ends up in the Hands of US Government Agencies Hulls added that the company follows industry best practices to secure data and that only a few customers receive “raw” location data. The contract also contains additional privacy and safety protective practices. They added that while the company removes the most obvious identifying user information, it does not make more efforts to reduce the precision.Ĭhris Hulls, Founder and CEO of Life360, said that the company’s contracts prohibit buyers from re-identifying its users. The two former Life360 employees stated that the company “fails to take necessary precautions to ensure that location histories cannot be traced back to individuals.”
This means that a buyer should not be able to personally identify users from the purchased data set. Selling information, such as location data, is a cause for concern when it is not sufficiently secured. As a matter of fact, in 2020, 20% of the company’s revenue came from selling location data ($16 million).
The Markup said that selling location data is very important to Life360’s financial health. Concerns Around Life360’s Efforts to Preserve Privacy According to The Markup, the data is highly sought after by a “multi-billion dollar industry that trades in location gathered from mobile phones.” In fact, advertisers, investors, and government agencies are more than willing to spend large sums of money for this information, and the insights that are derived from them. There is a growing demand for Life360’s data points. The app also offers location sharing features, as well as emergency features such as an SOS button and vehicle crash detection. Parents often use the device to keep an eye on their children. It allows users to view the accurate and real-time location of family members and friends. The Life360 app is marketed as a safety app and is popular among parents. Both sets of interviewees gave accounts of Life360’s concerning data practices. The Markup interviewed two former employees of Life360, as well as two persons who worked at location brokerages. The brokers then sell the data to “virtually anyone wants to buy it.”įurthermore, the companies that buy the data have very few safeguards in place to secure sensitive information. The Markup, a non-profit media organization, claims that Life360 is a “firehose of data” and has sold the information of children and families to approximately a dozen data brokers. Have any thoughts on this? Let us know down below in the comments or carry the discussion over to our Twitter or Facebook.A recently published investigative report has found that popular safety app Life360 sells its users’ location information to data brokers.
Instead, they will sell aggregate data that is harder to track back to its users. They’re not entirely putting a stop to this shady practice.
#Life360 app data usage update
UPDATE 5:09 PM ET: Life360 is done selling its customers’ precise location data to seedy data brokers. Oh, if you thought Tile would be a better choice, then heads up, as Life360 now owns them. Other services (typically first-party solutions) can provide the tracking you want without selling your data (or at least any more of it), or you could work on trusting your kids so they don’t actually need to be lojacked. Should you still trust them with your family’s safety? While this does supposedly stop Life360 from selling your precise location data, the question remains. Tap the toggle next to Personal Information Sales so it’s in the off position (it will gray out)
#Life360 app data usage how to
Here’s how to set it up.įrom there, Tap on Do Not Sell My Personal Information Within the Life360 app, you thankfully have an option to stop the company from selling your personal information.
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