FTC, Software Provider Settle Data-Sharing Case
A provider of shopping cart software for online retailers settled a Federal Trade Commission complaint accusing the company of illegally sharing consumer personal data, the FTC said yesterday.Vision I Properties, Provo, UT, which did business as CartManager International, collected information on 1 million customers of its online retailer clients and rented it to third parties in violation of the retailers' privacy policies, the FTC said. The information was used for direct mail and telemarketing purposes, according to the FTC complaint.
Information collected by CartManager included name, address, telephone number and purchase history, according to the complaint. CartManager failed to adequately inform retailers and consumers about its collection and rental of personal information, the FTC said.
CartManager provides checkout pages for the Web sites of its retailer clients for the finalizing and processing of online orders, the FTC said. The checkout Web pages look like the retailer's site, displaying the retailer's logo and name, but are actually hosted by CartManager.
Under the settlement, CartManager agreed to a ban on the use of data it has already collected and from future misrepresentations about its collection and use of personal data. The company promised to ensure that consumers received clear notices about the collection of personal information in the future and agreed to give to the government the money it made from renting the data, totaling $9,100.
Scott Hovanyetz covers telemarketing, production and printing and direct response TV marketing for DM News and DMNews.com. To keep up with the latest developments in these areas, subscribe to our daily and weekly e-mail newsletters by visiting www.dmnews.com/newsletters
