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In 2021, an organization specializing in accumulating and promoting location information known as Close to bragged that it was “The World’s Largest Dataset of Individuals’s Habits within the Actual-World,” with information representing “1.6B individuals throughout 44 international locations.” Final 12 months the corporate went public with a valuation of $1 billion (through a SPAC). Seven months later it filed for chapter and has agreed to promote the corporate.
However for the “1.6B individuals” that Close to stated its information represents, the vital query is: What occurs to Close to’s mountain of location information? Any firm might acquire entry to it by buying the corporate’s property.
The prospect of this information, together with Close to’s assortment of location information from delicate areas resembling abortion clinics, being bought off in chapter has raised alarms in Congress. Final week, Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) wrote the Federal Commerce Fee (FTC) urging the company to “defend shoppers and traders from the outrageous conduct” of Close to, citing his workplace’s investigation into the India-based firm.
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