14 DAY TRIAL // The United States Federal Trade Commission (FTC) filed a lawsuit against D-Link claiming that the company failed to protect its users and exposed their data following a breach that affected select devices, including IP cameras connected to the Internet and routers.
In a statement provided to us today, the Cause of Action Institute (CoA Institute) revealed that it would defend D-Link in the lawsuit against the US government that it describes “unwarranted and baseless.”
The CoA Institute explains that the FTC is setting a dangerous precedent by suing D-Link, explaining that this could potentially allow the organization to sue pretty much any company in the United States after finding security vulnerabilities in their products.
“Dangerous precedent”
A statement provided by the company calls for privacy advocates to take D-Link’s side in the war against the US government. The full statement is available below:
“It sets a dangerous precedent for the federal government to go after a good company and put American jobs at risk without a single instance of actual or likely consumer harm,” said Cause of Action Institute Assistant Vice President Patrick Massari.
“This lawsuit is another instance of the FTC’s unchecked regulatory overreach. If the FTC can bring a lawsuit on the mere potential of a data security breach, nearly every company will be subject to unconstrained and unexplored data security liability. Such limitless liability coupled with FTC’s history of unrelentingly litigious oversight will no doubt have a chilling effect on innovation in the Internet of Things. Privacy advocates and consumers at large should applaud our client’s courage for fighting these incendiary claims and refusing to be held hostage by the FTC for the next 20 years.”
At the same time, D-Link itself has explained that it’s willing to fight against the US government in this case, describing FTC’s claims as “false allegations.” Furthermore, the firm said that it’s already working on enhancing the security of its devices and thus provide customers with increased protection that would prevent vulnerabilities like the one discovered in 2016 from happening.