January 19, 2024 at 12:14PM The FTC settled with InMarket, prohibiting it from selling Americans’ location data. The company collects data from its own and third-party apps, creating detailed advertising profiles without users’ consent. The FTC found InMarket’s data retention policy excessive and proposed measures including data deletion and consent enforcement. This is the FTC’s … Read more
January 9, 2024 at 03:37PM The U.S. FTC banned data broker Outlogic, formerly X-Mode Social, from selling Americans’ sensitive location data. The move responds to data brokers exposing individuals’ location data revealing sensitive information. Outlogic lacked protocols to remove sensitive locations and sometimes failed to respect individuals’ opt-out preferences. The ban follows an August 2022 … Read more
November 17, 2023 at 07:48AM The FCC is implementing new rules to protect consumers from SIM-swapping attacks and port-out fraud. These scams involve malicious actors gaining control of a consumer’s phone number without physical access to the device. The rules require wireless providers to use secure authentication methods and notify customers of any SIM changes … Read more
October 30, 2023 at 04:01PM The U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has amended the Safeguards Rules to require non-banking financial institutions, such as mortgage brokers and investment firms, to report data breaches within 30 days. The goal is to enhance data security and protect customer information. Companies must disclose incidents impacting 500 or more consumers, … Read more
October 23, 2023 at 04:25PM Game maker Valve announced that it will require developers on its Steam platform to provide their phone numbers for SMS-based two-factor authentication (2FA) starting October 24. However, SMS-based 2FA is not entirely secure, as attackers can bypass it through various methods. Despite its flaws, SMS-based 2FA is still used by … Read more