On Thursday, March 5, 2009, the FTC announced that it had reached a settlement with financial research firm Rental Research Services, Inc. (RRS) and its managing officer, Lee Mikkelson, to resolve the FTC’s claims that the firm had failed to provide adequate security for sensitive consumer information provided to identity thieves posing as legitimate users. This case provides a number of key lessons for businesses who have not considered whether their security practices amount to “unfair or deceptive acts or practices” under federal and state laws.
Tag Archives: Red Flags Regulations
Do The Red Flags Regulations Apply to Me? — Understanding Whether You Are A “Creditor” Under Federal Law
If you are confused about whether you, your company or your clients are subject to federal identity theft regulations, you are not alone. When the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) announced on October 22, 2008 that they were delaying enforcement of the new Red Flags regulations by six months, until May 1, 2009 (which we reported here and here), the FTC admitted that the primary reason for the delay was that many businesses,… More
FTC Chief Privacy Officer Mark Groman Presents At The Boston Bar Association
On Wednesday, January 14, 2009, the Boston Bar Association’s Privacy Law Committee hosted FTC Chief Privacy Officer Mark Groman for a brown bag lunch presentation entitled “The View from the Federal Trade Commission’s Chief Privacy Officer.” Here are a couple of highlights from the presentation:
- Mr. Groman views law firms as businesses subject to FTC Red Flags regulations (“we regulate you, too”), so law firms should be developing identity theft prevention programs to comply with the regulations by the May 1,…
FTC Issues Guidance to Businesses on How To Handle Social Security Numbers
Anyone mystified by what practices the FTC wants businesses to improve on or abandon in response to federal “Red Flags” regulations received some specific guidance in December, when the FTC released the report Security in Numbers – SSNs and ID Theft. For anyone subject to new federal and state identity theft regulations, the Report helps identify some specific steps they should consider implementing by May 1, 2009, the deadline for businesses to adopt compliant identity theft prevention programs.
ALERT: FTC Gives Businesses Until May 1, 2009 to Adopt Identity Theft Prevention Plans that Comply With Recent FTC “Red Flags” Regulations
On Wednesday, October 22, 2008, the Federal Trade Commission issued an Enforcement Policy Statement that it will delay some elements of enforcement of recent “Red Flags” regulations until May 1, 2009, instead of the original November 1, 2008 date. Citing uncertainty and confusion within many industries over whether they are covered by the new regulations, the FTC indicated that it will not seek to enforce the regulations on November 1, 2008, when all affected businesses were originally required to come into compliance.