EPIC and Many Other Civil Society Groups Oppose Stalkerware Executive’s Attempt to Escape Accountability from FTC Order

On August 19, EPIC led a coalition including Public Knowledge, the Center for Democracy and Technology, the Demand Progress Education Fund, Fairplay, and Free Press, in urging the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to deny Scott Zuckerman’s petition to modify or vacate the Consent Decree he and the agency agreed to in 2021 in response to FTC enforcement against his SpyFone product. The coalition emphasized that modifying this particular Consent Decree would undermine the FTC’s role as an enforcer and embolden other purveyors of stalkerware, that the agency did important work issuing this Consent Decree because stalkerware and other forms of surreptitious surveillance present uniquely sensitive threats to consumers, that the FTC should raise the bar rather than lower it for data privacy and security standards, and that the facts of this case may have implications for criminal prosecution, as one then-FTC Commissioner noted at the time.

The Electronic Frontier Foundation and the National Network to End Domestic Violence Safety Net Project also filed comments in opposition to Zuckerman’s petition.

EPIC commented on the initial 2021 Consent Order, has frequently challenged the FTC over its failure to address consumer privacy harms, and has long advocated for the creation of a U.S. Data Protection Agency. In 2021, EPIC also published a report on the FTC’s unused statutory authorities, What the FTC Could Be Doing (But Isn’t) to Protect Privacy.