Inbound Investment

Snapchat, the popular and ever-growing messaging app for mobile devices, has agreed to a settlement with the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) over charges that the company "deceived users" when it indicated photos that users sent would eventually disappear.

FTC determined this was in fact not the case. And now under the deal, Snapchat must be monitored for the next 20 years.

This is a prime example of FTC looking to implement enforceable measures when it comes to data protection and privacy. It is a welcomed change that FTC is moving from a penalty-based approached to a remedial-measures approach to deal with companies that have inadvertent breaches. Companies, including those involved in information technology handling private and sensitive data on a global level, should at the outset have remedial measures in place that will help them deal with such issues and show best practices to FTC. This would also help regulatory authorities of other countries that would have jurisdiction over these companies due to the global nature of data transfer and sharing.