FTC: Data Mining Company Subject To Consumer Protection Laws

The Federal Trade Commission has closed its investigation into whether the company Social Intelligence violates federal credit reporting laws without commencing an enforcement action. But the FTC also said the company, which scours the Web for information about job candidates, is a consumer reporting agency and must follow fair credit laws.

"No further action is warranted at this time," Maneesha Mithal, associate director of the FTC's Division of Privacy and Identity Protection, said in a letter to Social Intelligence's law firm Nixon Peabody. "In reaching this determination, we considered information provided by Social Intelligence about its policies and procedures for compliance with the FCRA [Federal Credit Reporting Act]." The letter, quietly issued last month, drew attention when privacy researcher and former FTC staffer Chris Soghoian publicized it on Twitter.