Marriott International, Inc. (MAR) has reached conclusive settlements with the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and 49 U.S. State Attorneys General, in addition to the District of Columbia, in relation to the 2018 data breach affecting the Starwood Hotels and Resorts Worldwide guest reservations system. Under the agreement with State Attorneys General, Marriott will pay $52 million. However, the company does not acknowledge any liability concerning the initial allegations.
In accordance with the resolutions with both the FTC and the State Attorneys General, Marriott is set to continue the enhancement of its data privacy and information security measures, many of which are either already implemented or underway. Marriott offers U.S. customers the ability to request the deletion of their personal data, provides an online portal for Marriott Bonvoy members to report any potentially suspicious activities in their loyalty accounts, and introduces a multi-factor authentication option for Marriott Bonvoy accounts.
