Comcast Reaches Settlement Over Privacy

“We value and work hard to protect our customers’ privacy, and we apologize to anyone who was impacted by this”.

The company will refund about $8M to 75,000 affected customers, who had opted for unlisted voice-over-IP service but had their names, phone numbers and addresses listed online.

“Our investigation revealed that many Comcast customers complained to Comcast that their names, addresses, and phone numbers were published, though they had paid for that information to be kept private”, PUC Commissioner Catherine Sandoval said.

Comcast will also pay about $8 million in additional restitution to customers whose numbers were improperly disclosed.

“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”, Jenni Moyer, a Comcast spokesperson told me.

Finally, the settlement has Comcast agreeing to a permanent injunction, says Reuters, which makes the ISP boost the restrictions it has on how vendors’ use customers’ personal data.

“Publishing personal information that should have been unlisted is unlawful and a troubling breach of privacy”, Harris said. Of the total $25 Million $$432 000 will go to law enforcement officers as well as judges and domestic abuse victims.

Comcast customers pay about $1.50 a month to have their personal information unlisted. “This settlement provides meaningful relief to victims (and) brings greater transparency to Comcast’s privacy practices”.

This settlement is part of a global agreement that also resolves related administrative actions filed before the California Public Utilities Commission. “While this matter was operationally resolved almost three years ago, it has always been our goal to find a solution that works for all parties and for the customers who were impacted by this error”.

Comcast’s existing customers will receive their restitution payment as a credit on an upcoming telephone bill.