IBM-owned weather app misused user data: Lawsuit

The Weather Channel app deceptively collected, shared and profited from the location information of millions of US consumers, the city attorney of Los Angeles said in a lawsuit filed Thursday.

One of the most popular online weather services in the US, the Weather Channel app has been downloaded more than 100 million times and has 45 million active users monthly. The government said Weather Co, the business behind the app, unfairly manipulated users into turning on location tracking by implying that the information would be used only to localize weather reports. Yet the company, which is owned by IBM, also used the data for unrelated commercial purposes, like targeted marketing and analysis for hedge funds, according to the lawsuit.


The city’s lawsuit cited an article last month in NYT that detailed a sprawling industry of companies that profit from continuously snooping on users’ precise whereabouts. The companies collect location data from smartphone apps to cater to advertisers, stores and investors seeking insights into consumer behaviour.

An IBM spokesman said, “The Weather Company has always been transparent with use of location data; the disclosures are fully appropriate, and we will defend them vigorously.” The lawsuit was filed amid mounting scrutiny over how tech companies use users’ data.