Letter to Noam Ben-Zvi, Chief Executive Officer of Placer.ai - Blumenthal, Murphy Blast Data Brokers for Collecting & Selling Cell Phone Location Data of People Who Visit Abortion Clinics

Letter

Dear Mr. Ben-Zvi:

We write to demand answers regarding an appalling new report that Placer.ai has been collecting and selling the cellphone-based location data of people who visit abortion clinics such as Planned Parenthood.1 Especially in the wake of the Supreme Court's leaked draft opinion overturning Roe v. Wade,2 your company's sale of such data--to virtually anyone with a credit card and in some cases, to anyone with a free account--poses serious dangers for all women seeking access to abortion services. Placer.ai must immediately account for its problematic practices to Congress and to the American people and guarantee that it will eliminate these practices, and others like them, completely and permanently.

Data brokers across the country use a similar three-step business model. First, companies collect untold amounts of data from Americans when they use websites, mobile applications, and more, oftentimes without the consumer's informed consent or knowledge.3 Second, data brokers scoop up that information in bulk and repackage that information for sale.4 Third, purchasers of all stripes buy the data for almost any purpose5--whether to serve targeted ads or assemble credit reports6--reaping massive profits for the $200 billion data-broker industry.7

But Placer.ai's sale of abortion clinic data is especially pernicious, even by the low standards of the largely unregulated data-broker market. Placer.ai collects location data on millions of Americans using the apps on their phones, such as weather apps or prayer apps.8 The data is incredibly precise: it offers "[u]nprecedented visibility into consumer foot-traffic," down to the exact building.9 Purchasers of the data can determine where people who visit a given location came from, where they go afterwards, and even where they live.10 And perhaps most alarmingly, literally anyone with a free account can access elements of Placer.ai's repackaged data--including heat maps approximating where someone lives11--enabling individuals, corporations, and governments alike to learn who is seeking access to abortion care and where they are.

It is difficult to overstate the dangers of Placer.ai's unsavory business practices. Antiabortion activists have already used location data to send targeted anti-choice ads to women's phones while they are sitting in abortion clinics.12 Anti-abortion violence is on the rise, with assaults and threats of harm against abortion providers more than doubling between 2016 and 2020.13 Anti-abortion politicians in Republican-led states have placed bounties on women who receive abortions and doctors that provide them and even proposed laws that would punish pregnant people for traveling to seek abortions out of state.14 Anti-abortion prosecutors have used search and message data to criminally charge abortion seekers.15 These and other practices targeting women seeking necessary health care services are almost certain to escalate if Roe v. Wade is gutted and abortion is criminalized instantly in states across the nation. Under these circumstances, Placer.ai's decision to offer data that allowed essentially anyone to determine the locations of people seeking abortion services was simply unconscionable, risking the safety and security of women everywhere.

Placer.ai's response to the investigation of its practices misses the mark. Shortly after reporters contacted your company about its sale of abortion clinic data, "Placer.ai quietly removed the ability to search for Planned Parenthood from its website."16 But Placer.ai offered no public statement or explanation for its practices, let alone an apology. In particular, Placer.ai provided no details whatsoever about: (a) how many Americans had their sensitive data sold or transferred, (b) who accessed this data, (c) how long this data was available to the public, (d) whether the data removal would be permanent, (e) what Placer.ai would do to support those whose data was already accessed, or (f) any other remedial measures that your company planned on taking.17

Placer.ai's sale and transfer of this data presents an ongoing threat to women who have sought abortions and who may seek them in the future, a threat that is magnified by the leaked Supreme Court draft opinion which would eviscerate a woman's right to choose.18 To better understand Placer.ai's disturbing practice of collecting and selling the location data of Americans at abortion clinics across the country, we request that you answer the following questions by May 31, 2022:

1. How many individuals who visited Planned Parenthood clinics had their location data exposed or sold by Placer.ai in total?

2. Was any other data indicating locations where people may have sought or obtained abortions offered or sold by Placer.ai? If so, what data was offered or sold?

3. Did any advocacy organizations or government agencies access or purchase the location data of people who visited Planned Parenthood clinics from Placer.ai? If so, which ones?

4. Which mobile applications and data brokers supplied the location data of people who visited Planned Parenthood clinics?

5. What steps has Placer.ai taken to ensure that all its data suppliers--such as mobile applications--obtain informed consent from consumers before collecting and selling their data to Placer.ai?

6. For how long was the location data of people who visited Planned Parenthood clinics available through Placer.ai?

7. What procedures did Placer.ai have in place to screen the individuals, organizations, or governments who accessed or purchased the location data of people who visited Planned Parenthood clinics to prevent the data's misuse?

8. How is Placer.ai supporting the people whose location data has already been exposed or sold by your company to countless customers?

9. Precisely what data did Placer.ai remove from its platform after Vice contacted your company regarding its practices on May 4, 2022?

10. Is there any other data involving locations where people may have sought or obtained abortions that will still be available through Placer.ai? If so, what data will be offered or sold?

11. Will Placer.ai commit to a permanent ban on the sale of the location data of people who visited abortion clinics and any other sensitive locations?

`Thank you for your attention to this important matter.

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