Penalty Amount
$500,000
The FTC finalized an order against CafePress for failing to secure consumer data and covering up a data breach. The company must implement comprehensive security measures, and its former owner must pay $500,000 in redress to victims.
CafePress and its owners must implement a comprehensive information security program including multifactor authentication, data minimization, encryption of SSNs, and third-party security assessments. Residual Pumpkin must pay $500,000 for victim redress, and PlanetArt must notify affected consumers.
In-house legal teams should review vendor agreements (with platforms like CafePress) and customer agreements to ensure robust data security and breach response clauses. Specifically, examine sections on data security standards, breach notification timelines and procedures, data retention and disposal policies, encryption specifications, and audit rights. Given the findings—storing sensitive data (e.g., SSNs) in plaintext, excessive data retention, and failure to implement known protections—contracts may need amendments to mandate regular security audits, require industry-standard encryption, limit data retention to necessary periods, and impose clear, prompt breach notification obligations with defined penalties for non-compliance.
Entity
CafePress
Industry
RetailOfficial Press Release
https://www.ftc.gov/news-events/news/press-releases/2022/06/ftc-finalizes-action-against-cafepress-covering-data-breach-lax-security-0
192 3209 CafePress combined package without signatures
https://www.ftc.gov/system/files/ftc_gov/pdf/192%203209%20-%20CafePress%20combined%20package%20without%20signatures.pdf
Federal Trade Commission Enforcement Page
https://www.ftc.gov/enforcement
"finalized an order against CafePress"
"Residual Pumpkin must pay $500,000"
"failed to implement reasonable security measures to protect the sensitive information of buyers and sellers stored on its network and failed to adequately respond to several security breaches."
$370K
The FTC settled with CafePress for failing to implement reasonable data security measures, leading to multiple breaches that exposed Social Security numbers and other sensitive data. As part of the settlement, over $370,000 in refunds are being distributed to 20,044 consumers who filed valid claims.
$2.0M
New Jersey joined a multistate $2 million settlement with online retailer CafePress over a 2019 data breach that exposed personal information of approximately 22 million consumers nationwide, including over 540,000 in New Jersey. The settlement requires CafePress to implement a comprehensive cybersecurity program, incident response plan, and third-party assessments for five years, with payment suspended pending compliance.
The FTC referred a complaint against REPS & Company Inc. and company executives, alleging they bypassed ticket-issuer security controls and purchasing limits to acquire millions of tickets for resale. The complaint was filed by the Department of Justice, and the case will be decided by the court; the press release does not report a penalty or other remedy imposed.
The FTC sued Digital Forensics Corporation LLC and affiliated defendants, alleging they misled sextortion victims with promises of investigative and monitoring services that often were not provided, and used fake positive reviews. A federal court granted the FTC’s request to temporarily halt the defendants’ activities; the complaint remains for the court to decide.
The FTC alleged that Greenway Auto Group advertised vehicle prices thousands of dollars below the amounts consumers actually paid and used mailers falsely suggesting recipients had won cash prizes. Greenway agreed to an order requiring transparent pricing and prohibiting deceptive prize mailers and other misrepresentations; the press release does not state a monetary penalty.
The FTC sent warning letters to 24 large healthcare services companies, cautioning that incomplete, inaccurate, or untimely pricing information for scheduled medical care may be unfair or deceptive. The letters urge recipients to review their price-disclosure practices and take corrective action; they announce no fine or formal order.