The Federal Trade Commission has settled charges against two companies and their executives whocaptured personal consumer information over the Internet under alleged false pretenses.
The defendants, Robert Stout, doing business as Global Internet Federal Registry; Get Our From Under.com Inc,; and Donald J. Lytle, an officer and director of Get Out From Under.com, collected consumers’ personal identifying information, including credit card information, by telling consumers they had to supply the data or lose access to the Internet, the FTC said in a statement.
The defendants sent unsolicited commercial e-mail to Internet news groups notifying members that because of the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act, consumers were required to certify their age to maintain access to the Internet, the FTC said.
Among a number of orders, the defendants were required to destroy the collected information.