Federal Trade Commission Chairman Timothy Muris today said the FTC has
settled its complaint against Microsoft Corp. concerning the company's Passport,
Passport Wallet and Passport Kids online services.
It found that Microsoft had misrepresented the security of Passport,
purchases made with Passport Wallet, the type of information it collects from
users and how much control parents had over the information collected via Kids
Passport.
Microsoft will now face fines of $11,000 per violation per day if it
misrepresents those services in the future -- FTC misrepresentations don't
usually carry a fine.
The settlement also requires Microsoft to toughen its security program and
allow that program to be audited every three years by an independent third
party.
The FTC said it had found no security breach, only the possibilty of a breach
due to Microsoft's misrepresentations.
