the agency’s record-setting settlement with Facebook over the Cambridge Analytica data scandal because it did not name Facebook chief executive Mark Zuckerberg.“Today’s settlement sends a very clear message: protecting Americans’ data is not discretionary,” Khan and Commissioner Alvaro M. Bedoya said in a joint statement. “It must be a priority for any chief executive. If anything, it only grows more important as a firm grows.
The agency voted 4-0 to support the order, but the commission’s lone Republican commissioner, Christine Wilson, dissented to the decision to name Rellas. She warned the move sends a sign that the agency “will substitute its own judgement about corporate priorities and governance decisions for those of companies.
The action follows allegations that Drizly failed to implement basic security measures to protect its customers’ personal information. The company also allegedly stored important login credentials on the software development service GitHub, even though the FTC previously brought action against Uber for similar actions. The agency also alleged that Drizly didn’t have a senior executive in charge of securing data.
The FTC has more frequently pursued orders against individual executives in cases over fraud or misleading advertising, according to an FTC official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to speak candidly about the case. Last year, the FTC reached a settlement that named the former CEO of MoviePass over allegations that the companyThe FTC will take public comments on the consent order for 30 days, after which it will decide whether to finalize the order.
For the non-nerds in the audience: