Cable giant Comcast Corporation (NASDAQ:CMCSA) has agreed to pay a fine of $33 million over posting account details of customers online and further it also said renovate its operations to resolve these allegations.
Attorney General Kamala Harris said in a statement that Comcast will have to pay $25 million to California Department of Justice and the California Public Utilities Commission in penalties and scrutiny costs and remaining $8 million will be handed to victimized customers. Comcast will refund all fees paid for unlisted service to about 75,000 customers whose information was disclosed over a two-year period. In addition each affected person will receive extra $100 in violation of its own rules.
The reports of authorities dictate that personal details, names, phone numbers and addresses, of projected 75,000 customers posted online. The users had paid more than $1.50 a month for keeping their information secret. The data has been posted online and in phone books after it was sold through a listings data licensing company.
About $432,000 more will separately go to almost 200 law enforcement officers, judges and victims who filed a case regarding safety concerns due to the information breach, which occurred from 2010 to 2012.
“This settlement provides meaningful relief to victims (and) brings greater transparency to Comcast’s privacy practices,” Harris said.
As part of the judgment filed in the Alameda Superior Court, Comcast has agreed to a permanent injunction that requires it strengthen restrictions placed on its vendors’ use of personal information about customers, the statement said.
Payments to current customers will be processed as a bill credit; payments to past customers will be mailed to their last known address, Harris said in a statement.
