FTC: How You Should Handle Robocalls. 4 Companies Settle Regarding Privacy Shield Claims

First, it seems that the number of robocalls has increased during the past two years. Some automated calls are English. Some are in other languages. All try to trick consumers into sending money or disclosing sensitive financial and payment information. Advice from the U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC):

If you get a robocall -- Hang up the phone. Don't press 1 to speak to a live operator and don't press any other number to get your number off the list. If you respond by pressing any number, it will probably just lead to more robocalls. Read more: https://t.co/XnsAukJ5Fe

— FTC (@FTC) October 1, 2018

Second, the FTC announced a settlement agreement with four companies:

"In separate complaints, the FTC alleges that IDmission, LLC, mResource LLC (doing business as Loop Works, LLC), SmartStart Employment Screening, Inc., and VenPath, Inc. falsely claimed to be certified under the EU-U.S. Privacy Shield, which establishes a process to allow companies to transfer consumer data from European Union countries to the United States in compliance with EU law... The Department of Commerce administers the Privacy Shield framework, while the FTC enforces the promises companies make when joining the framework."

According to the lawsuits, IDmission, a cloud-based services firm, applied in 2017 for Privacy Shield certification with the U.S. Department of Commerce but never completed the necessary steps to be certified under the program. The other three companies each obtained Privacy Shield certification in 2016 but allowed their certifications to lapse. VenPath is a data analytics firm. SmartStart offers employment and background screening services. mResource provides talent management and recruitment services.

Terms of the settlement agreements prohibit all four companies from misrepresenting their participation in any privacy or data security program sponsored by the government. Also:

"... VenPath and SmartStart must also continue to apply the Privacy Shield protections to personal information they collected while participating in the program, protect it by another means authorized by the Privacy Shield framework, or return or delete the information within 10 days of the order."