Antitrust Law Daily Wrap Up, PRIVACY NEWS: FTC cracks down on LifeLock for allegedly violating stipulated order, (Jul 21, 2015)
Organizations Mentioned:LifeLock, Inc.
By Greg Hammond, J.D.
Identity theft protection services company LifeLock, Inc. is under fire for allegedly violating a 2010 stipulated final judgment and order for permanent injunction that settled FTC claims that LifeLock made deceptive representations concerning its services. The Commission has moved for contempt, claiming that from at least October 2012 through March 2014, LifeLock violated the stipulated order (FTC v. LifeLock, Inc., File No. 072 3069, Dkt. 2:10-cv-00530-MHM).
The 2010 stipulated order prohibited LifeLock from misrepresenting that its products, services, or program (1) provide complete protection against all forms of identity theft by making customer’s personal information useless to identity thieves; (2) prevent unauthorized changes to customers’ address information; (3) constantly monitor activity on each of its customers’ consumer reports; or (4) ensures that a customer will always receive a phone call from a potential creditor before a new credit account is opened in a customer’s name. The order also imposed recordkeeping requirements and mandated that LifeLock create and implement a comprehensive information security program.
The Commission now claims that LifeLock violated the stipulated order by: (1) failing to establish and maintain a comprehensive information security program to protect its users’ sensitive personal data; (2) falsely advertising that it protected consumers’ sensitive data with the same high-level safeguards as financial institutions; (3) failing to meet the stipulated order’s recordkeeping requirements; and (4) falsely claiming it protects consumers’ identity 24/7/365 by providing alerts “as soon as” it receives any indication there is a problem.
“It is essential that companies live up to their obligations under orders obtained by the FTC,” stated FTC Bureau of Consumer Protection Director Jessica Rich. “If a company continues with practices that violate orders and harm consumers, we will act.”
Companies: LifeLock, Inc.
News: ConsumerProtection Privacy FederalTradeCommissionNews