Compete, Inc., the Web market research firm that keeps track of website traffic and recently worked with Twitter to measure the impact of Twitter political advertisements on donations, settled with the FTC on Monday over charges that Compete intentionally deceived consumers into downloading tracking software (that is, spyware) on their computers.
Per the settlement Compete has agreed to 20 years worth of independent third-party audits on tis privacy practices and “requires Compete and its clients to fully disclose the information they collect and get consumers’ express consent before they collect consumers’ data in the future. In addition, the settlement bars misrepresentations about the company’s privacy and data security practices,” as the FTC puts it.
