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VoIP where prohibited by law?

Lesley Fair
The FTC and its law enforcement partners are waging the war against illegal telemarketing on many fronts. An amended complaint in a pending case filed by the FTC and the Ohio Attorney General seeks to hold an additional adversary responsible for violations of the law: Globex Telecom, a VoIP service provider that allegedly played a key role in subjecting consumers to a barrage of illegal calls for a bogus credit card interest rate reduction scheme...

Free vulnerability scanning for your business

Lisa Weintraub Schifferle
You know the importance of strong cybersecurity, but have you heard about free vulnerability testing? As part of its mission to protect the nation’s cyber infrastructure, the Department of Homeland Security’s Cyber-Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) offers free vulnerability scanning to government, critical infrastructure, and private businesses. What does this mean for you? You may be eligible for no-cost vulnerability scanning that will...

Panels announced for December 10th FTC-CFPB Accuracy in Consumer Reporting workshop

Lesley Fair
How central is accuracy to the credit reporting system? It’s important enough that Congress mentioned it in the second line of the Fair Credit Reporting Act – and more than 70 times in the text of the statute. On December 10, 2019, the FTC and CFPB will host a public workshop to talk about issues affecting the accuracy of both traditional credit reports and background screening reports used by employers and landlords. It’s a discussion you and...

Be a privacy hero at your company (shield included, cape optional)

Lesley Fair
Want to be your company’s Privacy Shield hero? Four proposed FTC settlements suggest actions you can take to keep your business Privacy Shield-compliant. The EU-U.S. Privacy Shield framework enables companies to lawfully transfer consumer data from European Union countries to the United States. (There also is a Swiss-U.S. framework.) The Department of Commerce administers both frameworks, while the FTC challenges false or deceptive...

Stopping scams cold turkey

Lesley Fair
It’s the Business Blog equivalent of a Thanksgiving tradition: our annual reminder to share tips at your holiday gathering about avoiding those other kinds of turkeys – consumer scams. We’ve introduced you to the FTC’s interactive Age & Fraud Loss graphic on our Tableau Public page. As the green bean casserole bakes, take a moment to explore the page for advice tailored to family members of every generation. For young adults. Reports in the FTC’s...

YouTube channel owners: Is your content directed to children?

Kristin Cohen, Assistant Director, Division of Privacy & Identity Protection, FTC Bureau of Consumer Protection
Under COPPA, how do I know if my channel is “directed to children”? Since the FTC and New York Attorney General announced their September 2019 settlement with YouTube for violations of the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act Rule, we’ve heard that question from channel owners – sometimes called content creators. If you ’re a channel owner who shares content on user-generated platforms like YouTube, read on for FTC staff guidance about the...

Avoidance devices won’t avoid HSR penalties

Marian Bruno, Bureau of Competition
The Commission and Department of Justice’s recent case against Canon Inc. and Toshiba Corporation for violating the Hart-Scott-Rodino Antitrust Improvements Act makes an important point: restructuring a deal to avoid or delay an HSR filing may subject the merging companies to substantial penalties if the restructured transaction still results in an acquisition by the A side. As antitrust practitioners know, HSR Rule 801.90 provides that whenever...

And the Consumer Shield Award goes to . . .

Lesley Fair
Holmes & Watson. Crockett & Tubbs. Cagney & Lacey. The anna ls of f iction are replete with dynamic law enforcement duos. But their make-believe exploits can’t compare with the real-life efforts of law enforcers who work cooperatively to protect America’s consumers. The Criminal Liaison Unit of the FTC’s Bureau of Consumer Protection just honored one of those indispensable partners – United States Postal Inspector/Team Leader Lisa D. Mayberry –...

When third-party service providers are party to sensitive data

Lesley Fair
Entrepreneurs wear a lot of hats. In addition to marketing their products, they’re responsible for operational functions like inventory, ordering, and the protection of customer data. Rather than managing all that millinery, some businesses turn to third-party service providers to run things behind the scenes. But what steps are those companies taking to secure the confidential consumer information in their possession? That’s one issue raised by...

Veterans: Make cybersecurity your business

Carol Kando-Pineda, Counsel, FTC Division of Consumer & Business Education
As Veterans Day reminds us, no one knows better than members of the military why it’s critical to maintain a vigilant defense. The more than 2.5 million veterans who own small businesses can apply that principle at their companies, too. Hackers are looking to exploit weaknesses in data perimeters, and business owners can’t afford to lose time, money, and customer goodwill to a compromised network. Knowing some cybersecurity basics and putting...