Case study: FTC v. Spokeo
Key point:
Data brokers are subject to FCRA if they provide reports for the purpose of serving as a factor in establishing the consumer’s eligibility for credit or insurance to be used primarily for personal, family, or household purposes; employment purposes; or any other FCRA permissible purpose even where the source of the information is social media networks.
Collection of information publicly available on social networking websites may constitute a consumer report.
Spokeo is a data broker that collects personal information about consumers from hundreds of online and offline data sources, including social networks. It merges the data to create detailed personal profiles of consumers. The profiles contain such information as name, address, age range, and email address. They also might include hobbies, ethnicity, religion, participation on social networking sites, and photos.
The FTC initiated proceedings against Spokeo resulting on a consent decree in 2012. The FTC alleged that from 2008 until 2010, Spokeo marketed the profiles on a subscription basis to human resources professionals, job recruiters, and others as an employment screening tool. The company encouraged recruiters to “Explore Beyond the Resume.” It ran online advertisements with taglines to attract employers, and created a special portion of the Spokeo…
