On December 15th, the FTC announced
in a press release that it had reached a settlement with a mortgage industry data analytics company to resolve allegations in
the FTC’s administrative complaint that the company had failed to ensure one of its vendors was adequately securing personal data about tens of thousands of mortgage holders under the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act (GLBA) Safeguards Rule. In the press release, Andrew Smith, Director of the FTC’s Bureau of Consumer Protection, stated that “Oversight of vendors is a critical part of any comprehensive data security program, particularly where those vendors can put sensitive consumer data at risk.”