Don’t be a Jerk

By: Ifrah Law

Last week the Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”) charged the operators of Jerk.com with harvesting personal information from Facebook to create profiles for more than an estimated 73 million people, where they could be labeled a “Jerk” or “not a Jerk.”

In the complaint, the FTC charged the defendants, Jerk, LLC and the operator of the website, John Fanning, with violating the FTC Act by allegedly misleading consumers into believing that the content on Jerk.com had been created by registered users of the site, when most of it had been harvested from Facebook. The FTC alleged that the operators of Jerk.com falsely claimed that consumers could revise their online profiles by paying a $30 membership fee. Additionally, the FTC asserted that the defendants misled consumers to believe that by paying for a membership, they would have access to the website that could allow them to change their profiles on the site.

Facebook profile pictures and profile names generally are public. Facebook rules allow for developers to upload the names and pictures in bulk. However, Jerk.com allegedly violated Facebook’s policies in the way it mined data from people’s profiles. At the time, Facebook’s rules only allowed an app developer to keep a person’s profile picture for 24 hours. The complaint stated that Fanning registered several websites with Facebook and used Facebook’s application program to download the data needed to create the fake profiles on Jerk.com. The FTC is also seeking an order barring the defendants from using the personal information that was obtained and requiring them to delete the information.

This action is another indication that the FTC is closely monitoring companies that the FTC believes are scraping data on consumers from other sites and deceiving customers in their business practices. The complaint notes how Jerk.com profiles often appear high in search engine results when a person’s name is searched. “In today’s interconnected world, people are especially concerned about their reputation online, and this deceptive scheme was a brazen attempt to exploit those concerns,” said Jessica Rich, Director of the FTC’s bureau of Consumer Protection in a statement.

Companies should monitor their practices for obtaining data from other websites to ensure that they are in compliance with the terms and conditions of websites where they obtain data. Organizations should be cautious about how they use this data, including being careful about making any representations and disclosures that could be viewed as deceptive by the FTC or a state attorney general.