Friday, January 4, 2019

City of Los Angeles Sues The Weather Channel Over Collecting User Data

Los Angeles City Attorney Mike Feuer has sued The Weather Channel, saying in a lawsuit that the company's mobile app, the Weather Channel App, is fraudulently and deceptively collecting user geolocation data, and selling that to third parties. The lawsuit was filed in the Los Angeles Superior Court. According to the lawsuit, the company's app is not using its users geolocation data for personalized local weather data, but instead collecting and selling that information to third parties. Feuer is seeking $2,500 for each violation, which would be multiplied by every California user who has downloaded and used the Weather Channel App. The Weather Channel (TWC) is a subsidiary of IBM. In the lawsuit, Feuer said that "unbeknownst to its users, TWC’s core business is amassing and profiting from user location data" saying that TWC has been using and monetizing user location information "for purposes entirely unrelated to weather or the Weather Channel App."