FTC and Myspace Settle Charges over Disclosure of Users' Information | Practical Law

FTC and Myspace Settle Charges over Disclosure of Users' Information | Practical Law

The FTC announced an agreement with Myspace to settle charges that Myspace misrepresented its protection of users' personal information and its compliance with the US-EU Safe Harbor Framework. The FTC complaint alleged that Myspace's actions were deceptive acts or practices that violated Section 5(a) of the FTC Act.

FTC and Myspace Settle Charges over Disclosure of Users' Information

Practical Law Legal Update 0-519-3531 (Approx. 3 pages)

FTC and Myspace Settle Charges over Disclosure of Users' Information

by PLC Intellectual Property & Technology
Published on 08 May 2012 • USA (National/Federal)
The FTC announced an agreement with Myspace to settle charges that Myspace misrepresented its protection of users' personal information and its compliance with the US-EU Safe Harbor Framework. The FTC complaint alleged that Myspace's actions were deceptive acts or practices that violated Section 5(a) of the FTC Act.
On May 8, 2012, the FTC announced in a press release its agreement with Myspace to settle charges that Myspace committed deceptive acts or practices in violation of Section 5(a) of the FTC Act by:
  • Failing to comply with its privacy policy disclosures concerning its users' information.
  • Misrepresenting that it complied with the US-EU Safe Harbor Framework.
According to the FTC, Myspace's privacy policy promised users that:
  • Myspace would not share a user's personally identifiable information with third parties without first giving notice to the user and receiving permission.
  • The information used by Myspace to customize ads would not individually identify users to third parties.
  • MySpace would not share a non-anonymized information about a user's browsing activity with third parties.
The FTC alleged in its complaint that Myspace provided advertisers with users' Friend IDs. A Friend ID is a persistent unique identifier Myspace assigns to each user. Advertisers could use these Friend IDs to access a user's Myspace profile and obtain personal information available on the profile, such as the user's:
  • Age.
  • Gender.
  • Profile picture, if the profile includes one.
  • Display name.
  • Full name.
Advertisers could also use the Friend IDs to link web browsing activity with the personal information available on a user's Myspace profile.
Under the terms of the proposed settlement, Myspace:
  • Is barred from misrepresenting the extent to which it protects the privacy of users' personal information.
  • Is barred from misrepresenting the extent to which it belongs to or complies with any privacy, security or other compliance program, including the US-EU Safe Harbor Framework.
  • Must establish a comprehensive privacy program to protect users' personal information.
  • Must obtain biennial assessments of its privacy program by independent, third-party auditors for 20 years.
The FTC will decide whether to make the proposed settlement final after a 30-day public comment period ends on June 8, 2012.