FTC takes action against stalkerware company Retina-X

[We've been covering the grimy, sleazy stalkerware industry for years, and so it's nice to see that the FTC is finally taking action against the worst of the worst actors -- pity that they're still getting it wrong, as EFF's Gennie Gephart and Eva Galperin explain in this Deeplinks post that I've mirrored below. -Cory]

The FTC recently took action against stalkerware developer Retina-X, the company behind apps Flexispy, PhoneSheriff, and Teenspy. The FTC settlement bars Retina-X from distributing its mobile apps until it can adequately secure user information and ensure its apps will only be used for legitimate purposes. But heres the problem: there are simply no legitimate purposes for secret stalking apps.

Retina-X, and its own James N. Johns Jr., seem to have come to the FTCs attention not necessarily for making stalkerware, but for making stalkerware poorly. The company has suffered multiple security breaches over the past several years, including attacks from vigilante hackers who deleted petabytes of the companys dataessentially, data that stalking app users had collected through spying on spouses, children, employees, and other targets. The FTC alleged that the poor security was a deceptive practice, which the FTC has authority to regulate under Section V of the FTC Act.

In addition to requiring Retina X to demonstrate tighter security overall, the FTC alleged that the company violated the Childrens Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA), which requires companies like Retina X to secure informationespecially the kind of sensitive information Retina-Xs apps collect, like physical location and online activitiesfrom children under 13. Read the rest