Life360 Sued for Selling Location Data

A propo­sed class-action lawsuit cites Markup repor­ting and claims the family-trac­king app did not get user consent to sell loca­tion data

A propo­sed class-action lawsuit has been filed against the maker of family-trac­king app Life360, alle­ging it sold users’ loca­tion data without permis­sion.

The fede­ral suit was brought on behalf of a Florida minor and his family, who say they never would have used Life360 had they known about the data sales. They allege “unjust enri­ch­ment, ” citing a Decem­ber 2021 Markup inves­ti­ga­tion that reve­a­led Life360 was selling the precise loca­ti­ons of milli­ons of users—­lar­gely kids and fami­li­es—to about a dozen diffe­rent loca­tion data brokers.

Life360 disclo­sed the lawsuit in its May 15 quar­terly earnings filing with the Secu­ri­ties and Exchange Commis­sion (SEC). It was filed in the Northern District of Cali­for­nia Jan. 12.

The compla­int alle­ges that the data sold by Life360 can be used to iden­tify users and their visits to sensi­tive loca­ti­ons, “inclu­ding places of reli­gi­ous wors­hip, places that may be used to infer an LGBTQ+ iden­ti­fi­ca­tion, domes­tic abuse shel­ters, medi­cal faci­li­ties, and welfare and home­less shel­ters.” The compla­int claims this “poses an unwar­ran­ted intru­sion into the most private areas of consu­mers’ lives, ” it conti­nues, and could expose them to “stigma, discri­mi­na­tion, physi­cal violence, emoti­o­nal distress, and other harms.” The suit is deman­ding a jury trial, and seeks “compen­sa­tory, statu­tory, and puni­tive dama­ges” to be deter­mi­ned by the court.

Ed Tagli­a­ferri, a Life360 spokes­per­son, told The Markup in an emai­led state­ment, “While we don’t comment on pending liti­ga­tion, Life360 remains commit­ted to trans­pa­rency and choice. We disclose our data prac­ti­ces and give members meaning­ful choi­ces about how their data is used, proces­sed, and shared, inclu­ding the ability to opt out of even aggre­ga­ted data sales.” In its SEC filing, the company said it “intends to defend against the claim.”

Life360 announ­ced it would stop selling precise loca­tion data to the dozen or so data brokers it had been working with a month after The Markup publis­hed its inves­ti­ga­tion, cutting off one of the largest sour­ces of data to the multi­bi­llion-dollar loca­tion data industry. Instead, the company said, it would sell aggre­ga­ted data to Placer.AI, a major figure in the loca­tion data industry. It would also conti­nue to sell precise loca­tion data only to Arity, an Alls­tate company. 

On May 26, 2023, the judge in the case appro­ved an order to delay proce­e­dings until after a mutu­ally agreed upon private medi­a­tion session on Aug. 21, 2023. The parties have until Aug. 25 to submit a status report to the court.

The Markup will conti­nue to follow this case.

Illus­tra­tion: Gabriel Hongs­du­sit, Joel East­wood, and Getty Images