CPUC, California DOJ Reach $33 Million Settlement With Comcast Over Privacy Violations
California's Department of Justice and its Public Utilities Commission reached a $33 million settlement with Comcast over allegations Comcast posted online the names, phone numbers and addresses of tens of thousands of customers who had paid for unlisted Voice over…
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Internet Protocol phone service, said a Thursday news release from the California attorney general's office. In the settlement, Comcast must pay $25 million in penalties and investigative costs to the state DOJ and CPUC, it said. The company will also pay about $8 million in additional restitution to customers whose numbers were improperly disclosed, it said. Comcast also agreed to a permanent injunction requiring the company to improve how it handles customer complaints and to strengthen the restrictions it places on its vendors’ use of personal information about customers, the AG's office said. The injunction will require Comcast to provide a simple and easy-to-read disclosure form to all customers that explains the ways in which it uses unlisted phone numbers and other personal information, it said. Comcast is in the process of refunding all fees paid for unlisted service by the roughly 75,000 customers whose information was improperly disclosed over a two-year period, which total more than $2 million. Under the settlement, Comcast will pay each of these customers $100 on top of the refund, totaling an additional $7.5 million, the AG's office said. The settlement also provides for further monetary relief to those with personal safety concerns related to the disclosure of their information, such as law enforcement personnel and victims of domestic violence, it said. The matter was "operationally resolved nearly three years ago," a Comcast spokeswoman said. Despite that, the company is happy to bring it to a close, she said. "It has always been our goal to find a solution that works for all parties and for the customers who were impacted by this error."