United States of America: Federal Trade Commission issued ruling in its investigation into Support King (SpyFone) over unlawful monitoring products and services

On 20 December 2021, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) issued a final order in Docket No. C-4756 concerning Support King, LLC, formerly doing business as SpyFone and its officer, mandating the immediate disabling of access to information collected through monitoring products or services, the deletion within thirty days of all personal information previously gathered, and the issuance of clear and conspicuous notices to past purchasers and mobile device users. The order permanently banned the licensing, marketing, promotion, distribution, or sale of monitoring products or services; prohibited misrepresentations regarding privacy or security; required the implementation of a comprehensive information security programme with safeguards including employee training, access controls, encryption, and service provider oversight; and mandated third-party biennial security assessments for twenty years. Additional provisions imposed obligations for annual compliance certification, incident reporting within twenty-one days of discovery, acknowledgements of the order, compliance reporting, recordkeeping for ten years, and monitoring by the FTC, with the order remaining effective until 20 December 2041 or twenty years from the most recent federal complaint alleging violations