Reston’s X-Mode is rebranding as Outlogic and upping its data ethics following an acquisition by Atlanta’s Digital Envoy

In a deal focused on digital privacy, Reston, Virginia, geolocation company X-Mode Social was acquired by Atlanta IP intelligence specialist Digital Envoy. Financial terms were not disclosed.

Last time Technical.ly checked in on X-Mode, the company was using its location software to help track spring breakers potentially spreading COVID in March 2020. Now, X-Mode will be rebranded as Outlogic following the acquisition, although CEO Josh Anton told Technical.ly that it will maintain its presence in DC and there will be no layoffs. Anton will also be named chief strategy officer at Digital Envoy.

“Digital Envoy acquired X-Mode because of its great team and great products and expects the entire team to add value in the combined organization,” Anton said. “We will still have a presence in the DC area and no one is being required to move.”

The rebrand, Anton said, was fueled around product and what services it will continue providing. The company will continue its work providing location data solutions for both internal use or to send to third parties. He said that X-Mode recently retired a visualization app, called XDK. It has also changed practices recently and added new guidance on where data is sourced from, defining specific use cases for the product, which Anton said fit a rebrand. This is the second time the company has rebranded since it was founded in 2013, when it started off as Drunk Mode.

Anton said Digital Envoy was drawn to X-Mode due to its observation panel product and collection methodologies, which allows for enhanced coverage of virtual private network and proxy detection, leveraging IP, Internet of Things and Wi-Fi data for companies in financial fraud and cybersecurity.

“Digital Envoy has reviewed various location data providers, and has consistently recognized X-Mode’s data as the most valuable due to its high quality, opt-in data,” Anton said. “X-Mode has an exclusive publisher network and a technology stack that will further enhance Digital Envoy’s offerings in IP and location data. Additionally, the combined offerings of Digital Envoy and Outlogic will provide enhanced value to our customers by enabling us to solve a broader array of our clients’ challenges.”

Following the acquisition, Digital Envoy said in a statement that it added a new code of ethics, a data ethics review panel, a sensitive app policy and will be hiring a chief privacy officer. It also shut off all U.S. location data that would have been heading to defense contractors. It will also be continuing its Data For Good program, which provides location data and services to policymakers and researchers.