FTC Says Kochava Lacks Right to Jury Trial
The FTC asked an Idaho court Friday to deny data broker Kochava’s request for a jury trial and strike its affirmative defenses in a case alleging that the company's data sales are unfair acts or practices likely to cause substantial injury to consumers in violation of Section 5(a) of the FTC Act.
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An affirmative defense is a fact or facts in the complaint that does not negate elements of the plaintiff’s claim; however, it reduces or removes liability, though it's not a denial that the defendant did what was alleged.
The FTC is seeking a permanent injunction against Kochava, it said, adding that since its "claims and the relief it seeks are equitable in nature, the Seventh Amendment does not guarantee the Defendants a right to trial by jury.’”
The agency said Kochava's affirmative defenses "are nothing more than a ‘bland recitation of the names of the defenses with no factual detail provided at all.’”
Case 22-00377, in the U.S. District Court of Idaho, began in August 2022 when the FTC sued Kochava for allegedly selling past location data of consumers, collected from their mobile devices. Moreover, the FTC claimed the location data was not anonymized, and could be used to identify consumers and sensitive locations, which "poses an unwarranted intrusion into the most private areas of consumers’ lives and causes or is likely to cause substantial injury to consumers.
Kochava also offers free samples of data it collects and sells, which the public can access easily by entering an email address and claiming the information is needed for business, the complaint alleged.
On Feb. 3 the court denied Kochava’s motion to dismiss the case, saying the FTC has reason to believe the data broker is violating or about to violate a law the commission enforces, so the FTC is authorized to ask for injunctive relief (see 2502030017).