Blue Global Media Settles With FTC Over Charges of Selling Consumer Data 'Indiscriminately'
Blue Global Media, which the FTC said "enticed" consumers to complete online loan applications, agreed to settle charges that the company sold sensitive information to other entities with "little regard to how it would be used," said the agency in…
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a Wednesday news release. The commission voted 2-0 to file the complaint and proposed stipulated order in the U.S. District Court for the District of Arizona. The complaint said the Arizona-based company and CEO Christopher Kay operated at least 38 websites that solicited loan applications and collected information including names, addresses, email addresses, birth dates, bank routing numbers, driver's license and state identification numbers, phone numbers and Social Security numbers. The FTC said the company then sold the consumer information "indiscriminately without consumers' knowledge or consent." When consumers complained, the company didn't investigate or take action, the agency said. The company is barred from misrepresenting that it can provide favorable loan rates and terms. It must also secure personal data, identify and verify the types of businesses with which it shares the data and must get consumers' consent for disclosures, the FTC said. The order includes a $104 million judgment, which is suspended because of defendants' inability to pay, said the agency. A company website didn't work Wednesday and a phone number rang several times before disconnecting.