Path will pay $800,000 in FTC settlement over privacy controversy

Last year, social networking app Path came under fire when it was discovered that the company was collecting contact data from user address books without permission and storing that information on its servers. Today the company has reached a settlement with the Federal Trade Commission, with terms that require Path to receive privacy assessments for the next 20 years and establish what the FTC calls a "comprehensive" privacy policy. It will also have to pay a fine of $800,000 for collecting information from children without obtaining parental consent. Path admits that early in its history, it accepted signups from users under the age of 13. “This settlement with Path shows that no matter what new technologies emerge, the agency will continue to safeguard the privacy of Americans," said FTC Chairman Jon Leibowitz, who we've just learned will be resigning from his post later this month. The Path controversy eventually prompted Apple to require direct authorization for contacts access in iOS.