FTC Finalizes Settlement with Company that Misled Consumers about how it Accesses and Uses their Email

The Federal Trade Commission finalized a settlement with an email management company that allegedly deceived some consumers about how it accesses and uses their email.

The FTC alleged that Unrollme Inc., which helps users unsubscribe from unwanted emails or consolidate their email subscriptions, falsely told consumers that it would not “touch” their personal emails in order to persuade consumers to provide access to their email accounts.

In fact, Unrollme shared users’ email receipts from completed transactions with Unrollme’s parent company, Slice Technologies, Inc. E-receipts can include, among other things, the user’s name, billing and shipping addresses, and information about products or services purchased by the consumer. Slice uses anonymous purchase information from Unrollme users’ e-receipts in the market research analytics products it sells.

As part of the settlement with the Commission, Unrollme is prohibited from misrepresenting the extent to which it collects, uses, stores, or shares information from consumers. It must also notify those consumers who signed up for Unrollme after viewing one of the allegedly deceptive statements about how it collects and shares information from e-receipts. The order also requires Unrollme to delete, from both its own systems and Slice’s systems, stored e-receipts previously collected from those consumers, unless it obtains their affirmative, express consent to maintain the e-receipts.

After receiving two comments, the Commission voted 4-0-1 to approve the settlement with Unrollme as well as responses to the commenters. Commissioner Rohit Chopra abstained from the vote.

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