Blog

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...

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...

Parties regularly present their arguments and defenses of conduct and mergers to the Front Office of the Bureau if staff has recommended a challenge. A surprising number of these presentations begin with a recap of “how we got here” that includes various complaints about the investigating staff. Common complaints have included: the investigation is taking too long; staff didn’t present their concerns early enough in the investigation; and market...

Are you an influencer who works with brands to recommend or endorse products or services in social media? Or perhaps you’re an advertiser that uses influencers in your marketing. The FTC just issued a publication you need to know about: Disclosures 101 for Social Media Influencers . And that’s not all. To accompany the brochure, the FTC released a new video to help streamline influencers’ and advertisers’ efforts to stay on the right side of the...

Sometimes FTC cases affirm important legal principles in the courtroom. In other cases, we’re able to get money back for consumers injured by a company’s illegal conduct. The FTC’s action against AT&T for allegedly deceptive and unfair practices related to AT&T’s promises of “unlimited data” resulted in a key ruling last year about the FTC’s jurisdiction and will return $60 million to affected consumers. In 2014 the FTC sued AT&T Mobility, LLC...

Imagine people who have lost the ability to speak communicating in a digital version of their own voice. With just a brief recorded snippet, researchers can use artificial intelligence and text-to-speech synthesis to create a near-perfect voice clone. But it takes even less time to imagine how fraudsters could use that technology to further their scams. On January 28, 2020, FTC staff will examine the consumer protection implications at You Don’t...

In tribute to the baseball season that’s just ended, we’ll start this blog post about an alleged pyramid scheme and supposed miraculous dietary supplements with the words of the great Yogi Berra: “ It's like déjà vu all over again.” The FTC has announced a lawsuit against Neora, LLC, formerly known as Nerium International, LLC. The FTC alleges that Neora, an international multi-level marketing (MLM) company that sells dietary supplements, skin...

For the good of the antitrust bar and our entire profession, the BC Front Office encourages parties to give associates, counsel, and newer partners more opportunities to present to the Bureau and the Commission in party meetings. In return, we promise reasonable expectations based on attorneys’ level of experience. Junior attorneys need “on your feet” opportunities to build their legal skills—not only to ensure that future clients will be well...

They’re called “notices,” but do consumers really notice them? Convening at 9:00 Eastern Time this morning, October 29th, Consumers and Class Action Notices: An FTC Workshop will take a closer look at what the research – including a recent FTC staff report – tells us about class action notices, refund methods, claims rates, and related issues. Panelists represent a wide range of perspectives, including consumer groups, class action administrators...

When it comes to fraud, there’s no such thing as a generation gap. According to reports in the FTC’s Consumer Sentinel database, fraud affects every generation. But that’s only half the story. What else the reports tell us is that fraud affects every generation differently. The FTC has a new interactive tool that demonstrates those differences graphically, giving users exactly the data they ask for. If you haven’t checked out the FTC’s Tableau...