LifeLock agrees to pay $100 million to settle FTC charges

The Federal Trade Commission has reported LifeLock, Inc. will pay $100 million to settle Federal Trade Commission contempt charges that it violated the terms of a 2010 federal court order that requires the company to secure consumers’ personal information and prohibits the company from deceptive advertising. The Commission's filing in the case alleged that LifeLock violated four components of the 2010 order:

• that from at least October 2012 through March 2014, LifeLock failed to establish and maintain a comprehensive information security program to protect users’ sensitive personal information including their social security, credit card and bank account numbers;
• that during this period LifeLock falsely advertised that it protected consumers’ sensitive data with the same high-level safeguards used by financial institutions;
• that, from January 2012 through December 2014, LifeLock falsely advertised that it would send alerts “as soon as” it received any indication that a consumer may be a victim of identity theft; and
• that the company failed to abide by the order’s recordkeeping requirements.

Of the $100 million settlement, the order requires that $68 million be used to redress fees by class action consumers allegedly injured by LifeLock's actions. The order has been filed for approval with the U.S. District Court for the District of Arizona.