The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is taking legal action to LifeLock, an identity theft protection firm, for false advertising.
On Tuesday, July 21, the FTC filed a lawsuit against LifeLock at a U.S. District Court for the District of Arizona alleging that the latter is unsuccessful in protecting the data of it users, as well as that its advertising is misleading and deceptive.
This is not the first time the FTC and LifeLock have locked horns over data protection of users. In 2010, LifeLock made a settlement worth $12 million with the commission, as well as 35 attorney generals, for supposedly making fraudulent claims of what the company's services were capable of protecting the users against.
"It is essential that companies live up to their obligations under orders obtained by the FTC," said FTC's director of Bureau of Consumer Protection Jessica Rich. "If a company continues with practices that violate orders and harm consumers, we will act."
Per the filed court documents, the FTC alleges that LifeLock has violated the 2010 settlement obligations. It also requested the court to levy an order whereby LifeLock would be liable to offer complete compensation to any consumer who is affected thanks to the order violations by the company.
LifeLock has stated that it is in disagreement with the FTC's allegations and is ready to go to court.
"After more than 18 months of cooperation and dialogue with the FTC, it became clear to us that we could not come to a satisfactory resolution of their issues outside a court of law. We disagree with the substance of the FTC's contentions and are prepared to take our case to court," noted the company on its website.
LifeLock also let on that it has taken action post the 2010 lawsuit to make its systems more secure. Moreover, it says that the FTC claims pertain to the past and not its current business practices. It also added that none of its patrons have suffered from ID theft post the securing of its systems.
The company also clarified that it does not deceive people through its advertising materials and takes the accuracy of the same "very seriously."
Photo: Brian Turner | Flickr
