WASHINGTON (Legal Newsline) — The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) announced Feb. 22 that three U.S. companies will settle allegations of deceiving consumers about their participation in the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Cross-Border Privacy Rules (CBPR) system.
The three companies are Sentinel Labs Inc., an endpoint protection software provider; SpyChatter Inc., a private message app marketer; and Vir2us Inc., a cyber security software distributor.
According to the FTC, all three companies misrepresented their participation in the APEC CBPR system. The system allows for privacy-respecting data transfers between APEC member economies. The system stems from nine data privacy principles – prevention of harm, notice, collection limitation, use choice, integrity, security safeguards, access and correction and accountability.
“Cross-border commerce is an important driver of economic growth, and our cross-border privacy commitments help enable U.S. companies to compete around the world,” said acting chairwoman Maureen K. Ohlhausen. “Companies, however, must live up to the promises they make to protect consumer data.”
The FTC voted 2-0 to accept the three consent agreements related to the three companies for public comment. Descriptions of the consent agreements will be published in the Federal Register. All agreements will go before public comment for 30 days before being finalized.