....
For several years, Neustar knowingly sold sensitive internet metadata which it presumably
obtained from unwitting consumers. Some of these consumers may have been promised that their
data would not be sold to third parties. Neustar did not take sufficient steps to warn consumers
that it no longer intended to honor these promises, and as such, appears to have engaged in
business practices substantially similar to those that the FTC has previously argued violated the
FTC Act.
Neustar collects information about which websites its customers visit as part of its “recursive
Domain Name System (DNS)” service, which looks up the domain name that a user is trying to
access, such as ftc.gov, and connects it to a specific IP address. Companies that provide recursive
DNS services receive extremely sensitive information from their users, which many Americans
would want to remain private from third parties, including government agencies acting without a
court order. For example, knowing that a user visited the website of the National Suicide
Prevention Hotline (suicidepreventionlifeline.org), the National Domestic Violence Lifeline
(thehotline.org) or Power to Decide’s Abortion Finder service (www.abortionfinder.org) can all
reveal deeply personal and private information about a person.
read more (pdf) / attached
For several years, Neustar knowingly sold sensitive internet metadata which it presumably
obtained from unwitting consumers. Some of these consumers may have been promised that their
data would not be sold to third parties. Neustar did not take sufficient steps to warn consumers
that it no longer intended to honor these promises, and as such, appears to have engaged in
business practices substantially similar to those that the FTC has previously argued violated the
FTC Act.
Neustar collects information about which websites its customers visit as part of its “recursive
Domain Name System (DNS)” service, which looks up the domain name that a user is trying to
access, such as ftc.gov, and connects it to a specific IP address. Companies that provide recursive
DNS services receive extremely sensitive information from their users, which many Americans
would want to remain private from third parties, including government agencies acting without a
court order. For example, knowing that a user visited the website of the National Suicide
Prevention Hotline (suicidepreventionlifeline.org), the National Domestic Violence Lifeline
(thehotline.org) or Power to Decide’s Abortion Finder service (www.abortionfinder.org) can all
reveal deeply personal and private information about a person.
read more (pdf) / attached
