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Financial Services Law Insights and Observations

Mortgage broker allegedly violated federal laws by posting customers’ personal information on website

Privacy/Cyber Risk & Data Security Courts FTC DOJ FTC Act UDAP FCRA Regulation P Safeguards Rule Settlement Consumer Protection

Privacy, Cyber Risk & Data Security

On January 7, the FTC announced a proposed settlement with a California mortgage broker and his company to resolve alleged violations of the FTC Act, FCRA, Regulation P, and the Safeguards Rule. According to a complaint filed by the DOJ on behalf of the FTC, the defendants published the personal information of customers who posted negative reviews on a public website, including customers’ “sources of income, debt-to-income ratios, credit history, taxes, family relationships, and health.” The alleged posts containing negative financial information violated the defendants’ responsibilities under Regulation P (Privacy of Consumer Financial Information) as the required privacy disclosure provided to the customers stated that the defendants would not share personal information with any third party. Regulation P also “prohibits financial institutions from disclosing to any nonaffiliated third party any nonpublic personal information about a customer unless it has provided the customer with an opt-out notice, . . . a reasonable opportunity to opt out of the disclosure, and the customer has not opted out.” In this instance, customers were not given the opportunity to opt out of disclosure of their personal financial information in response to online consumer reviews, the complaint asserts. In addition, the complaint alleges that the defendants also violated the FTC Act by causing unfair or deceptive acts or practices that “deprived consumers of the ability to control whether and to whom they disclosed sensitive information.” The defendants also allegedly violated the FCRA by using consumer reports for impermissible purposes, and the FTC’s Safeguards Rule by failing to implement or maintain an adequate information security program. Under the terms of the proposed settlement, the defendants will pay a $120,000 civil penalty and are prohibited from (i) misrepresenting their privacy and data security practices; (ii) using consumer reports for anything other than a permissible purpose; (iii) not providing required privacy notices; and (iv) improperly disclosing nonpublic personal information to third parties. Among other things, the company is also prohibited from transferring, selling, sharing, collecting, maintaining, or storing nonpublic personal information unless it implements a comprehensive information security program; and must obtain independent third-party assessments of its information security program every two years.