Does Tile’s New Owner, Life360, Sell User Location Data?

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(Pocket-lint) – Life360, which recently agreed to acquire Tile, would sell the location data of its 33 million users to “virtually anyone who wants to buy it.”

A new report from Markup has claimed that Life360 uses its 13-year-old platform to collect and sell user data to third parties. Life360 is best known for its location-based family tracking service that allows your friends and family to share their exact location with you and each other.

Life360 also offers features such as location history and favorite routes.

The San Francisco-based company apparently made $ 16 million last year just from selling its users’ location data. He allegedly sold this data to marketing companies such as Cuebiq to run marketing campaigns. A former employee described Life360 as “one of the largest sources of data for the industry” – which is particularly mind-boggling given its acquisition of Tile, which makes a line of popular trackers.

Life360 CEO Chris Hulls told Markup that his user data is “an important part of our business model,” enabling him to offer free services. However, according to Hulls, its privacy policy prevents it from selling data that identifies its users.

Hulls also said Life360 has no plans to sell data from Tile devices.

Written by Maggie Tillman. Originally published on December 7, 2021.