Affair site Ashley Madison will pay $1.6M fine for 2015 breach

The parent company of AshleyMadison.com — the extramarital dating service that suffered a massive data breach last year — will pay $1.6 million to settle Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and state charges that it mislead consumers about its privacy practices. 

The FTC and the New York attorney general made separate announcements about the deal on Wednesday.

{mosads}Ashley Madison’s parent company, Ruby Corp., agreed to a $17.5 million fine, though 90 percent of the amount was suspended due to inability to pay.

Ruby will also be required to increase security on its sites. 

Ashley Madison’s website boasted icons claiming a security award and certification that both appear to have been made up. 

The breach exposed information on 37 million users, including many who had purchased a $19 “full delete” option after closing an account.

Though it was said to delete all stored information, some “full delete” data was kept on file to in case of credit disputes.

“This settlement should send a clear message to all companies doing business online that reckless disregard for data security will not be tolerated,” New York Attorney General Schneiderman said in a statement.