The Lawfare Podcast Lawfare Archive: Justin Sherman on the FTC Settlement with Location Data Broker X-Mode
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Oct 12, 2025 Justin Sherman, Founder and CEO of Global Cyber Strategies and expert in privacy and national security, delves into the FTC's landmark settlement with X-Mode. He explains how X-Mode gathers location data, raising privacy concerns from its apps. Sherman discusses the implications of the FTC's sensitive locations list and the need for comprehensive privacy legislation. He also addresses the challenges of enforcement and the likelihood of future FTC actions against data brokers, highlighting the crucial conversations around consumer privacy and legislative action.
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How X‑Mode's Business Model Works
- X-Mode is a major location data broker that collects app-based GPS pings and sells both raw location and labeled consumer segments.
- It builds audiences like "people who visited a military base" and sells them to advertisers and contractors.
X‑Mode's Own Apps Collected Data
- X‑Mode operated its own apps like Drunk Mode and Walk Against Humanity to collect location data directly from users.
- These apps prompted users with privacy policies while harvesting GPS data for resale.
FTC's Unfairness Theory On Location Data
- The FTC charged X‑Mode with unfair practices for selling location-linked sensitive data and ignoring phone privacy settings.
- Selling data tied to medical centers, places of worship, and shelters raises clear substantial injury to consumers.