The FTC continues to maintain a ban on Scott Zuckerman - founder of Support King and monitoring platforms SpyFone and OneClickMonitor, after a data leak exposed the personal information of customers and subjects. The FTC said it has rejected a request to cancel or amend a ban that Zuckerman submitted in July.
The ban was issued in 2021, requiring Zuckerman to terminate all forms of tracking software. He must delete all illegally collected data and comply with the cybersecurity measures set by the agency. SpyFone has been criticized for helping trackers steal personal information while the company's own security system is vulnerable to attack by hackers.
According to the petition, Zuckerman said the FTC's request made it difficult for him to conduct other business activities. Support King has stopped operating and he is running a restaurant, and plans to carry out projects in Puerto Rico (USA).
The ban came from a 2018 incident when a researcher discovered an extremely sensitive SpyFone data warehouse leaked online, including photos, messages, audio, location and login information. The incident showed that at least 44,109 email addresses and data from more than 3,600 devices were exposed.
Less than a year after the ban, TechCrunch has found signs that Zuckerman is still involved in operating another tracking app called SpyTrac. Data leaked from the app shows a link to Support King and even contains information that should have been deleted at the FTC's request.
Cybersecurity experts say the new findings prove that Zuckerman has violated the ban. TechCrunch reported that over the past eight years, at least 26 companies developing tracking software have been attacked or leaked sensitive data. This increases concerns about the privacy of users as well as those who are being tracked.
