Feds Finalize Deal with College Saving Service Upromise Over Privacy Violations

03.04.2012

In addition, the privacy statement for the Turbosaver program stated that the Toolbar would collect and transmit information about websites consumers visited, and that "infrequently" the collection might "inadvertently" collect a "name, address, email address or similar information," but that any personally identifying information would be removed before the data was transmitted.

According to the FTC complaint, Upromise's failure to disclose the extent of information collected by the toolbar--as well as its claims that it encrypted consumer data and took reasonable measures to protect data from unauthorized access--were deceptive and violated federal law.

Upromise offers its college savings for free and has been in the past as a 401(k) plan for college savings. It has hit some rough patches through the years, but has been able to , even in lean years.

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