Choicepoint Federal Trade Commission FTC privacy
Spokeo to Pay $800, 000 to Trade Commission to Settle Privacy Violations
The data broker Spokeo agreed to pay $800,000 to settle a complaint filed by the Federal Trade Commission that the company marketed its data profiles to employers in violation of federal privacy law. The FTC alleges that Spokeo violated the Fair Credit Reporting Act by failing to ensure that its information was accurate, failing to ensure that it would be used only for legally permissible purposes, and failing to tell users if adverse decisions were made based on the information. The FTC also alleged that Spokeo created its own endorsements on news and technology websites and represented them as independent endorsements. The FTC's settlement bans Spokeo from future FCRA violations and misrepresentations. In 2004, EPIC successfully urged the FTC to investigate the compilation and sale of personal dossiers by the data broker ChoicePoint. That investigation produced a $10 m settlement, the largest in the FTC's history for a violation of federal privacy law. For more information, see EPIC: Federal Trade Commission and EPIC: Choicepoint.
June 12, 2012| Share:
