LifeLock, a identity theft protection firm, is paying $100 million to customers as part of a lawsuit filed by the Federal Trade Commission, which alleges that the company failed to take adequate measures to keep customers' personal data safe.
Announcing the lawsuit Thursday, the FTC declared that the settlement is "the largest monetary award obtained by the Commission in an order enforcement action," according to CNN.
News of the settlement stems from initial allegations of fraud dating back to 2010. FTC accused LifeLock at the time of making deceptive claims when promoting its identity theft protection services. LifeLock paid a $12 million settlement that prohibited it from making misleading claims, which was used primarily to refund customers and at the same time agreed to adjust its business practice.
However, in 2015, the FTC found LifeLock to be in violation of that settlement by failing to maintain "a comprehensive information-security program" to protect customers' personal data, according to NBC News.
In the latest action, the FTC alleges that the LifeLock violated the 2010 order in 2012-14 by making false advertisements. One such example is with one of their "claim to fames" where the company pledged that it will send a customer an alert the moment it saw any indications of identity theft.
Of the $100 million, $68 million may be used to refund customers who paid fees to LifeLock, while the remaining $32 is expected to go to FTC and could also be used to reimburse customers who participated in the lawsuit.
In the meantime, LifeLock has neither confirmed or denied the allegations under terms of the new settlement, but it says that the current charges relate to practices it no longer engages in.
"The allegations raised by the FTC are related to advertisements that we no longer run and policies that are no longer in place. The settlement does not require us to change any of our current products or practices. Furthermore, there is no evidence that LifeLock has ever had any of its customers' data stolen, and the FTC did not allege otherwise," the company said in a statement.
News of the settlement caused LifeLock's shares to fall 2.1 percent, ending at $13.99 in trading Thursday.
