The FTC hosted an online privacy seminar that brought together researchers, academics, and industry representatives to discuss trends related to consumer privacy and data security. The agency announced a lawsuit against an education technology provider for allegedly lax data security practices that exposed sensitive information about millions of customers and employees. The agency also announced a settlement with a major telecommunications company over alleged junk fees and dark pattern practices. These stories and more after the jump.Continue Reading FTC Updates (October 31 – November 4, 2022)
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FTC Updates (December 20, 2021 – January 7, 2022)
Monday, December 20, 2021
Bureau of Competition: Retail Fuel Merger
- The FTC entered into a consent order with Global Partners LP and Richard Wiehl to settle charges that Global’s proposed acquisition of Wiehl’s chain of 27 retail gasoline service stations would violate federal antitrust laws. Under the order, Global and Wiehl must divest seven fuel outlets to Petroleum Marketing Investment Group, and for the next ten years, Global must obtain prior approval from the Commission before acquiring retail fuel assets within two miles of any of the divested outlets. Concurrently with the order, the agency issued an analysis explaining the potential anticompetitive effects of the proposed acquisition and how the consent agreement remedies those effects.
Continue Reading FTC Updates (December 20, 2021 – January 7, 2022)
Court Dismisses FTC’s Unfairness Claims Against D-Link
Earlier this month, the Northern District of California dismissed FTC’s unfairness claims against D-Link, a manufacturer of routers and IP cameras, while allowing most of FTC’s claims rooted in deception to survive, suggesting that traditional false advertising actions may be FTC’s most effective means of addressing suspect data security…
FTC Data Security Authority Confirmed
The Third Circuit’s Monday decision in FTC v. Wyndham Worldwide confirmed the Federal Trade Commission’s (FTC) statutory authority to pursue enforcement actions for allegedly “unfair” data security practices under Section 5 of the FTC Act. Many believe that the decision will embolden the FTC to continue aggressively regulating what it considers to be unreasonable data…