FTC Settles First Case with Mobile App Developer

As part of the Federal Trade Commission’s (“FTC”) ongoing effort to ensure that companies secure the software and devices that they ship to consumers, the FTC has announced a settlement in its first case against a mobile app developer. The agency charged that HTC America, a leading manufacturer of smartphones and tablets using the Android, Windows Mobile, and Windows Phone operating system, failed to employ reasonable and appropriate security practices in the design and customization of the software on more than 18 million mobile devices, placing millions of consumers at risk. The Commission alleged that not only had HTC not used “well-known and commonly accepted secure coding practices,” they failed to “establish a process for receiving and addressing vulnerability reports from third parties” and further failed to “provide its engineering staff with adequate security training.” If you would like to read more about this case and others, visit our Case Studies Library.