The FTC has banned Support king for android reports Feiner from CNBC. The FTC called Support King on Android a “stalkerware app company”.
The commission said in a press release that this is the first time the FTC has obtained such a ban. The agency emphasized that it won’t be the last time.
According to FTC acting director Samuel Levine, Support king poses a significant risk to our safety and security. We will seek surveillance bans when companies and their executives egregiously invade our privacy,” he said in a statement.
Rohit Chopra, a Democratic commissioner, said in a separate statement that the agency’s pursuit of a ban was a significant departure from its previous approach. According to Chopra, the agency settled its first stalkerware case in 2019, but allowed the violators to continue developing and marketing monitoring products.
FTC Support King Android Feiner CNBC
According to the FTC, SpyFone, a business that operated as SupportKing.com, distributed the Android application SpyFone. The FTC accused Support King and its CEO, Scott Zuckerman, of obtaining and releasing individual information through a secret device hack. According to the FTC, Support King also sold “real-time access” to the surveillance, which stalkers and abusers could use to track their victims.
The FTC also said that the app lacked even the most basic security measures, leaving consumers open to cybercrime. Even after a hacker stole the personal data of over 2,200 consumers in 2018, the FTC alleged that SpyFone did not follow through on its promise to work with an outside security firm and the police to investigate, as promised.