Hearing about the latest concerning data breach seems to be an increasing occurrence, and, following from that, cybersecurity is an increasingly hot topic. Cable and Internet provider Comcast is no exception; the company this week agreed to pay a $33 million fine related to the public posting of data from 75,000 customers.
California Attorney General Kamala Harris announced the settlement, between Comcast and the California Department of Justice and California Public Utilities Commission, on Sept. 17. Comcast will pay $25 million in fines and costs to the state, plus $8 million in restitution to customers.
The root cause of the settlement is the online posting of names, phone numbers and addresses of customers who had paid to have voice-over-Internet-protocol, VoIP, numbers unlisted.
“Publishing personal information that should have been unlisted is unlawful and a troubling breach of privacy,” Harris said. “This settlement provides meaningful relief to victims, brings greater transparency to Comcast’s privacy practices and sends a message that violations of consumers’ privacy will result in significant penalties.”
Also included in the agreement is a permanent injunction that requires Comcast to improve handling of customer complaints as well as vendor use of customer data; for consumers, Comcast will have to provide a disclosure explaining how unlisted number and personal data are used.
Harris’ office said the service provider is refunding the fee associated with unlisting a number. In addition to the refund, Comcast will pay each customer $100.
Comcast spokesperson Jenni Moyer told IFreePress, “This was an error that was a result of very specific system updates that didn’t include current directory listing statuses for certain customers in California in that time frame.”
