Verizon Communications paid $7.4 million to settle a Federal Communications Commission complaint that the company didn’t notify subscribers of their privacy rights or their ability to opt out of having their information shared.
Verizon Pays $7.4 Million Fine to Settle FCC Privacy Investigation
The company didn’t tell new customers they could opt out of marketing programs, the FCC says.
Gil C/Shutterstock.com
FCC staff said that Verizon failed to tell about two million new customers about their rights to opt out of having their information used for marketing purposes. The company failed to provide required notices beginning in 2006 but didn’t discover the problem until six years later. Even then, the FCC charged, Verizon didn’t inform the government of its opt-out omissions until early 2013.
“It is plainly unacceptable for any phone company to use its customers’ personal information for thousands of marketing campaigns without even giving them the choice to opt out,” said Travis LeBlanc, acting chief of the FCC’s enforcement bureau, in a statement.
In addition to the $7.4 million fine, Verizon will now be required to print opt-out notices on every bill, not just the first one sent to customers.
A Verizon spokesman said the problem was an internal issue with sharing of information for marketing purposes and did not involve other companies.
“Verizon takes seriously its obligation to comply with all FCC rules, and once we discovered the issue with the notices we informed the FCC, fixed the problem and implemented a number of measures to ensure it does not recur,” the company said in a statement.
This article originally appeared on Recode.net.
See More:
Most Popular
- The Supreme Court will decide when the police can use your phone to track you
- Pete Hegseth’s spiritual leader explains his radical faith
- Take a mental break with the newest Vox crossword
- Israel’s critics are winning the battle for the Democratic Party
- Why it feels like there’s never enough time for your relationships
