FTC bars 'stalkerware' app company, exec from surveillance biz - Reuters

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Federal Trade Commission headquarters in Washington, D.C. REUTERS/Andrew Kelly/

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• Second FTC case over stalkerware apps
• Company must delete any data "illegally collected"

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(Reuters) - The Federal Trade Commission on Wednesday said it is barring a "stalkerware" app company and its chief executive from the surveillance business after alleging its apps allowed people to secretly monitor the phone activities and physical movements of others through a hidden capability.

The FTC said the case against Support King LLC, operator of SpyFone, and its CEO Scott Zuckerman, marks the second case the agency has brought over stalkerware apps, and the first to impose a ban. The FTC voted unanimously on a proposed settlement with the company and the executive.

"This case is an important reminder that surveillance-based businesses pose a significant threat to our safety and security," Samuel Levine, acting director of the FTC's consumer protection bureau, said in a statement. "We will be aggressive about seeking surveillance bans when companies and their executives egregiously invade our privacy."

SpyFone and a lawyer from Venable representing the company and Zuckerman didn't immediately respond to requests for comment.

The agency alleged Support King, which did business as SpyFone.com and sold smartphone apps, "secretly harvested and shared data on people's physical movements, phone use, and online activities through a hidden device hack" installed on a person's Android device without their knowledge, according to the FTC's statement. The apps sold "real-time" access to the information, which allowed "stalkers and domestic abusers to stealthily track the potential targets of their violence," the agency said in the statement.

The company also allegedly failed to secure the data it collected and didn't follow through on a pledge to work with an outside firm and law enforcement to investigate a 2018 breach of its server, the FTC said.

The proposed order would prohibit the company and chief executive from promoting or selling any surveillance business and require them to delete any data that was "illegally collected" from the apps, the FTC said.

Democratic Commissioner Rohit Chopra in a separate Wednesday statement called the proposed settlement over SpyFone "a significant change from the agency's past approach." The FTC's first stalkerware app case was against Retina-X Studios LLC in 2019. The settlement in that matter didn't go so far as to ban the company from the surveillance business.

Sara Merken

Sara Merken reports on privacy and data security, as well as the business of law, including legal innovation and key players in the legal services industry. Reach her at sara.merken@thomsonreuters.com

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