• by Wendy Davis , Staff Writer @wendyndavis, February 13, 2012

Privacy company Abine has filed a Federal Trade Commission complaint against the data broker BeenVerified for allegedly offering deceptive opt-outs. The company tells consumers that they can opt out of having their information displayed, but then reinstates users' data after only three months, Abine alleges.

"The average consumer would reasonably expect the opt-out to be permanent or at least several years in duration," the complaint says.

What's more, BeenVerified allegedly asks users who wish to opt out of the searchable database for a host of biographical data -- including current address, previous addresses and names of relatives -- which it can then draw on when it updates its records and reinstates information about those users.

Like other data brokers, BeenVerified appears to garner information from a host of sources, including publicly available records. For the most part, companies are free to sell such data -- just as publishers are free to post it.

But there are some exceptions, including ones for companies that can be characterized as consumer reporting agencies. When such companies sell background reports about people to prospective employers (or to landlords, banks or other decision-makers), the companies must give people the opportunity to contest inaccuracies.

Even when companies aren't covered by fair credit laws, this much is clear: If a company tells consumers they can exclude themselves from its reports, the company needs to keep that promise.

FTC has already made clear that it disapproves of short-lived opt-outs. Last year, the agency announced it had taken action against the ad network Chitika for telling consumers they could opt out of online behavioral advertising but setting the opt-outs to expire after just 10 days. (Chitika said that the 10-day time frame was the result of a glitch.) That settlement calls for Chitika to preserve users' opt-outs for five years -- the same length of time that self-regulatory groups say opt-outs should persist.