The Federal Trade Commission has denied a petition from Scott Zuckerman, CEO of Support King LLC, seeking to vacate or modify a 2021 order that permanently banned him from operating surveillance app businesses. The Commission voted 2-0 to reject Zuckerman's request, finding he failed to demonstrate changed conditions of fact or law sufficient to justify reopening the consent order.
The original enforcement action stemmed from allegations that Zuckerman and Support King, operating as SpyFone.com, marketed and sold stalkerware applications that enabled covert device monitoring. According to the FTC's 2021 complaint, these apps allowed purchasers to secretly monitor smartphones and other devices without the knowledge or consent of the device owners.
The SpyFone apps collected extensive personal data including photos, text messages, web browsing histories, location information, and physical movement patterns. The FTC alleged this data collection occurred without proper disclosure to device users, violating consumer privacy expectations and federal regulations. The commission's investigation revealed that the apps required users to disable security features on target devices, creating additional cybersecurity vulnerabilities.
Under the 2021 consent order, Zuckerman and his companies were required to delete all previously collected consumer data and implement comprehensive security measures for any remaining business operations. The order also imposed a permanent ban on participating in any surveillance app business, directly or indirectly.
In his petition to the Commission, Zuckerman argued that changed circumstances warranted modification of the consent order. However, the FTC found these arguments insufficient to meet the legal standard for reopening settled enforcement actions. The Commission emphasized that consent orders are intended to provide lasting consumer protection and should not be easily modified absent compelling justification.
The case reflects broader regulatory scrutiny of stalkerware applications, which have raised significant privacy and safety concerns among consumer advocates and law enforcement agencies. These apps are often marketed for legitimate purposes such as parental monitoring but can be misused for domestic surveillance and harassment.