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Financial Services Law Insights and Observations

FTC settles with mortgage analytics company

Federal Issues FTC Enforcement Settlement Mortgages Gramm-Leach-Bliley Safeguards Rule Privacy/Cyber Risk & Data Security Third-Party Vendor Management Data Breach

Federal Issues

On December 22, the FTC announced the final approval of a settlement with a mortgage industry data analytics firm (defendant) for allegedly failing to develop, implement, and maintain a comprehensive information security program and ensure third-party vendors are capable of implementing and maintaining appropriate safeguards for customer information in violation of the Gramm-Leach Bliley Act’s Safeguards Rule. As previously covered by InfoBytes, in December 2020, the FTC alleged that a vendor hired by the defendant stored the unencrypted contents of mortgage documents on a cloud-based server without any protections to block unauthorized access, such as requiring a password. According to the FTC, because the vendor did not implement and maintain appropriate safeguards to protect customer information, the cloud-based server containing the data was improperly accessed approximately 52 times. The FTC claimed, among other things, that the defendant failed to adequately vet its third-party vendors and never took formal steps to evaluate whether the vendors could reasonably protect the sensitive information. Moreover, the defendant’s contracts allegedly did not require vendors to implement appropriate safeguards, nor did the defendant conduct risk assessments of its vendors.

The settlement requires the defendant to, among other things, implement a comprehensive data security program and undergo biennial assessments conducted by a third party on the effectiveness of its program. Additionally, the defendant must report any future data breaches to the FTC no later than 10 days after it provides notice to any federal, state, or local government entity.

FTC Commissioner Rebecca Kelly Slaughter provided a lone dissenting statement.