Verve is a mobile ad-tech platform (ad exchange, DSP, and SDK network built on the 2022 acquisition of Smaato and legacy PubNative/Complex assets). Its own Advertising and Data Services Privacy Policy names a multi-entity corporate group: Verve Group, Inc. and VGI CTV, Inc. (US, Performance+/Brand+ marketplaces), Verve Group Europe GmbH, Platform161 B.V. (Verve DSP, Netherlands), and Smaato, Inc.; a Sweden-listed public parent was referenced in the task brief but not independently confirmed via a live fetch in this research. The policy states Verve collects Device Identifiers (Apple's/Google's Advertising Identifier or a randomly assigned ID), IP address, and location data associated with those identifiers for ad targeting and location-segment modeling, using cookies and similar technologies; it provides a CCPA opt-out link for the 'selling or sharing' of personal information and states Verve does not knowingly collect Personal Information from children under 16, restricting ad-serving data on child-directed apps per COPPA. In August 2024, a proposed class action (Bender v. Twilio Inc. et al.) named Verve Group among several SDK providers, alleging its SDK provided secret 'backdoor access' to consumers' devices as a 'data collection pipeline' tracking location and in-app activity without adequate disclosure; this is an unresolved allegation, not a judgment. No FTC action or confirmed breach was found in this research.
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Verve's Advertising and Data Services Privacy Policy states that to make advertising as relevant as possible, location data associated with Device Identifiers (an operating-system-supplied ID such as Apple's or Google's Advertising Identifier, or a randomly assigned unique identifier) may be used for targeting ads and as input into location-targeting segments based on the characteristics of locations, and is also used to count impressions, clicks and other metrics and to model household locations.
Verve's own Product Privacy Policies index names the operating entities behind its marketplaces as Verve Group, Inc. and VGI CTV, Inc. (Performance+/Brand+ Marketplaces, US), Verve Group Europe GmbH (Performance+ Marketplace, EU), Platform161 B.V. (Verve DSP, Netherlands), and Smaato, Inc. (Brand+ Marketplace) — a disclosed, multi-jurisdiction group structure rather than a single anonymous operator.
Verve's privacy policy states that individuals can opt out of the 'selling or sharing' of their personal information under applicable local law, alongside rights to access, correct, delete, or restrict disclosure of their information, contactable via a listed email or opt-out mechanism; it also states Verve does not knowingly collect Personal Information from children under 16 and restricts ad-serving information use on child-directed sites/apps per COPPA.
ClassAction.org reported that on August 8, 2024, proposed class actions (part of Bender v. Twilio Inc. et al., filed in California under the Wiretap Act and the California Comprehensive Computer Data Access and Fraud Act) alleged that Twilio, Verve Group and Amplitude's respective software development kits (SDKs) allow secret 'backdoor access' to consumers' devices, serving as a 'data collection pipeline' to track the locations and in-app activities of unsuspecting millions nationwide; this is an unresolved allegation, not a judgment or settlement.
Verve's privacy policy states it collects Device Identifiers — an operating-system-supplied advertising ID (Apple's Advertising Identifier, Google's Advertising Identifier) or a randomly assigned unique identifier — and states these may be paired with associated location data for ad targeting, and separately states Verve does not knowingly collect Personal Information from children under 16, restricting ad-serving data use on child-directed apps under COPPA.