You know that movie where a person thinks they’ve barricaded themselves in their house against a stalker, only to grasp the awful realization that the threat is “coming from inside the house”? Unbeknownst to you, that threat may, in fact, be coming from your smartphone, according to a complaint by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC).
Many consumers are drawn to products advertised as healthy and natural, and will often pay a premium for organic products, from foods to personal care items to clothing. But the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) takes a dim view of companies that don’t live up to their green promises. Case in point: Miami-based Truly Organic and
Facebook is facing some big changes after the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) settled with the social media giant over charges that it violated an earlier consent agreement. The company will pay a penalty of $5 billion, which is not only the biggest privacy fine in history, but also, according to FTC commissioner Noah Phillips, “almost
The Equifax data breach was one of the most massive data breaches of all time, and it has resulted in the biggest settlement for a data breach to date. After two years of investigations at the state and federal levels, credit reporting agency Equifax has agreed to a $675 million – up to possibly $700
After protracted litigation, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) entered into a proposed settlement with computer software manufacturer D-Link over charges that the company misrepresented the security of its wireless routers and Internet-connected cameras and failed to take reasonable software testing and remediation measures to protect the devices.
As we previously reported, part of the
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) entered into a proposed settlement with LightYear Dealer Technologies, LLC (aka DealerBuilt) on June 12, 2019, over allegations of lax consumer privacy protections. While no fines were levied, the order is remarkable for its detailed and extensive requirements governing the company’s future data privacy practices and the FTC’s role in
Making the same false country-of-origin claims that initially resulted in a Federal Trade Commission (FTC) consent order is a good way to land a company with substantial civil penalties and corrective advertising obligations. iSpring Water Systems LLC found this out the hard way. Instead of complying with its earlier promise not to falsely advertise its
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) recently released its annual report highlighting its work on privacy and data security during 2018. The FTC initiated five enforcement actions arising out of data breaches and nine data privacy enforcement actions in 2018, including cases against online payment system Venmo and mobile phone maker BLU for misrepresenting their privacy
As expected, 2019 is shaping up to be the year for privacy reforms, including possible amendments to the 20-year old Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA). Senators Edward Markey (D-Mass) and Josh Hawley (R-MO) have introduced legislation that would expand COPPA’s scope to offer new protections to minors age 13-15, establish new limitations on collecting
A recent class action lawsuit that claimed a manufacturer misrepresented its laundry detergent products as “all natural” when they, in fact, contained synthetic ingredients, has resulted in a $1.5 million settlement. A New York federal court gave preliminary approval to the settlement, which also requires the company to add qualifying language that states “contains naturally
