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Federal Trade Commission
The building of the Federal Trade Commission in downtown Washington DC.

To kick off the last full month of the current presidential administration, the Federal Trade Commission’s activity included numerous consumer protection updates. Privacy and cybersecurity and online retailers (especially home security systems) were a focus, including announced court orders and consumer payments for shipping practices, improper use of artificial intelligence, collecting and selling consumer location data, and obtaining financing for unqualified customers. On the competition side, the FTC issued its 2024 Report on Ethanol Market Concentration and proposed a consent order for a no-hire agreement. All this and more after the jump.Continue Reading FTC Updates (December 2-6, 2024)

Federal Trade Commission
The building of the Federal Trade Commission in downtown Washington DC.

The FTC’s activity in the leadup to Thanksgiving and Black Friday involved, appropriately enough, numerous consumer protection updates. The agency called funeral homes, investigated smart device manufacturers’ websites, and expanded a telemarketing rule to target tech support scammers. The Commission also announced an online workshop about predatory pricing, and reached a settlement related to an AI-powered security screening system. More information on these stories after the jump.Continue Reading FTC Updates (November 18-29, 2024)

Federal Trade Commission
The building of the Federal Trade Commission in downtown Washington DC.

The end of October brought refunds for tens of thousands of consumers harmed by deceptive credit offers and auto sales practices as well as the temporary shutdown of operations allegedly scamming millions of dollars from consumers enticed to sell goods online. All this and more after the jump.Continue Reading FTC Updates (October 28 – November 1, 2024)

Federal Trade Commission
The building of the Federal Trade Commission in downtown Washington DC.

The FTC updates include highlights from the FTC’s final amendment to its “click-to-cancel” rule and its proposed order against a company that allegedly violated the Franchise Rule. All this and more after the jump.Continue Reading FTC Updates (October 14 – October 18, 2024)

Federal Trade Commission
The building of the Federal Trade Commission in downtown Washington DC.

In the beginning of October, the FTC announced it is compensating consumers deceived by bait-and-switch advertising for vision correction procedures. The FTC also outlined the threats to competition posed by AI. More on these updates after the jump.Continue Reading FTC Updates (September 30 – October 4, 2024)

Federal Trade Commission
The building of the Federal Trade Commission in downtown Washington DC.

The FTC focused its week on consumer protection.  The Commission announced a tentative agenda for its upcoming open meeting, sent warning letters to adoption intermediaries for purportedly misleading consumers, and issued refunds to consumers deceived by 1Health.io about its privacy and security practices.  More on these stories after the jump.Continue Reading FTC Updates (September 9 – 13, 2024)

Federal Trade Commission
The building of the Federal Trade Commission in downtown Washington DC.

The FTC’s activity this week centers around data analysis. The agency released reports analyzing Bitcoin ATM scam data, followed by a report compiling issues with income disclosure statements from multi-level marketing (“MLM”) businesses. The Commission also sent a report to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau on its activity related to fighting debt collection-related fraud against consumers. More information on these stories after the jump.Continue Reading FTC Updates (September 2-6, 2024)

On August 26, 2024, the FTC announced a stipulated order and settlement with Care.com for 8.5 MM.  The complaint, filed in W.D. Tex. alleges various violations of Section 5 of the FTC Act and the Restore Online Shoppers Confidence Act with respect to the manner in which Care.com advertised and promoted the number of jobs available on its platform, and its auto-renew or subscription feature.  The FTC labeled Care.com’s subscription cancellation flow a “dark pattern”; it is hard to locate, and, once found, consumers must “navigate a multipage process rife with deceptive design tactics”.  The conclusion, per the FTC is that Care.com just doesn’t want users to be able to cancel.  In the stipulated order, the parties agreed that: Continue Reading The FTC and “Cancel Culture”