The social networking app Path has agreed to settle FTC Charges (Federal Trade Commission Charges) that it stored information- the entire address books, to be more specific- from it’s users devices without their consent.
It will also pay a hefty fee of $800,000 for collecting kids’ personal information illegally and without their, or their parent’s consent, violating the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act. Apparently, the app took personal data from the devices of about 3,000 children (under the age of 13) without their parents’ knowledge or consent. The settlement with the FTC on the other hand, requires Path to introduce a better and more ‘comprehensive privacy program’, and also to ‘obtain independent privacy assessments every other year for the next twenty years.’
“This settlement with Path shows that no matter what new technologies emerge, the agency will continue to safeguard the privacy of America,” said the FTC Chairman Jon Leibowitz, who resigned yesterday.
“There was a period of time where our system was not automatically rejecting people who indicated that they were under 13,” Path’s moderator said in a blog post. “It wasn’t until we gave our account verification system a second look that we realized there was a problem..We hope our experience can help others as a reminder to be cautious and diligent. Throughout this experience and now, we stand by our number one commitment to serve our users first.”