FTC Asserts LifeLock Violated 2010 Settlement, Failed To Institute Security Program, Misled Consumers
The FTC filed documents with the U.S. District Court for the District of Arizona Tuesday alleging LifeLock violated a 2010 settlement with the agency and 35 state attorneys general by “continuing to make deceptive claims about its identity theft protection…
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services, and by failing to take steps required to protect its users’ data,” an FTC news release said. The commission asked the court to impose an order requiring LifeLock to provide full redress to all consumers affected by the company’s order violations, it said. “We disagree with the substance of the FTC’s contentions and are prepared to take our case to court,” LifeLock said in an emailed statement. “Security of our systems has always been, and will remain, of primary importance to us.” The 2010 settlement came after the FTC alleged LifeLock used “false claims to promote its identity theft protection services,” the agency release said. Under the settlement, LifeLock was barred from making any further deceptive claims, was required to take more stringent measures to safeguard the personal information it collects from consumers, and LifeLock was required to pay $12 million in consumer refunds, it said. The FTC alleges LifeLock violated the 2010 settlement by failing to establish and maintain a comprehensive information security program to protect users’ sensitive personal data, including credit card, Social Security numbers and bank account numbers; falsely advertised it protected consumers’ sensitive data with the same high-level safeguards as financial institutions; and failed to meet the 2010 order’s record-keeping requirements, it said. Details of the agency’s action against LifeLock were filed under seal, the release said. The court could decide to unseal portions of the case, the FTC said. The vote to file the application for a show cause order was 4-1, with Commissioner Maureen Ohlhausen voting no. Commissioner Ohlhausen declined to comment further on this case at this time, her office said. “Based on the evidence, we do not believe that anything the FTC is alleging has resulted in any member’s data being taken,” LifeLock said. “The FTC is not seeking any relief that would change LifeLock services and products going forward,” but is "raising claims related to past, not current business practices.”