comScore Tables $14m Privacy Settlement

comScore is putting up $14m to settle claims that the firm collects personal and confidential information - such as credit card numbers, passwords and Social Security numbers - from consumers' computers without their knowledge.

The lawsuit was filed in the US District Court in the Northern District of Illinois in 2011, when panelists Mike Harris and Jeff Dunstan claimed comScore was using 'highly intrusive and robust data collection software... to surreptitiously siphon exorbitant amounts of sensitive and personal data from consumers' computers'.

In addition to offering $14m to settle these claims, the digital measurement firm is committing to updating the information it gives its panelists, and to ensuring that the companies which distribute its software also disclose its terms and conditions.

The proposed payments would go to those panelists who downloaded its software after 2005, as well as an amount of $4.5m for the panelists' attorneys. US District Court Judge James Holderman is currently considering the proposal.

Web site: www.comscore.com .