Verizon to pay $7.4 million for its data protection failures

Verizon has agreed to pay $7.4 to settle an investigation brought by US Federal Communications Commission’s Enforcement Bureau. The Commission found that Verizon had failed to inform some two million customers of their privacy rights prior to conducting thousands of marketing campaigns.

The company has now agreed to a three-year compliance plan, which includes notifying customers of their opt-out rights on every bill, developing systems to monitor and test its billing systems and opt-out notice process, appointing a compliance officer to oversee Customer Proprietary Network Information (CPNI) rules, and organising a training programme about these rules. The company has to report any subsequent problems or non-compliance, to the Communications Commission within five business days.

See the Consent Decree at http://www.fcc.gov/document/verizon-pay-74m-settle-privacy-investigation-0
and CPNI rules at http://www.fcc.gov/guides/protecting-your-telephone-calling-records