Got this in the mail today from ControlScan:
This letter is to tell you that we recently settled Federal Trade Commission (FTC) allegations that certain of our privacy and security seals were deceptive. Among other things, the FTC, the nation’s consumer protection agency, alleged that our Privacy Protected, Privacy Reviewed, Business Background Reviewed, and Registered Member seals falsely claimed to consumers that we had verified the privacy and security of the websites displaying them, when, in many instances, we had not.
We already have discontinued these seals, so you should not be displaying them. If you are still displaying any of these seals on your website, you must remove them immediately.
You may continue to display the Verified Secure seal.
If you have questions about this matter, please contact Joan Herbig at –snip–.
Sincerely yours,
Joan Herbig
Chief Executive Officer
ControlScan, Inc.
It’s interesting that the FTC has been looking into this - I’d be curious what sort of other security business practices are getting scrutinized. Could this be a new wave of deeper enforcement? There are certainly a lot of faulty business practices in security - so there would be no end to the possibilities there for an agency that just wanted to make a point.