Blog

Movie legend has it that screen siren Lana Turner was discovered as a teen at Schwab’s Drugstore. The millions of people who signed up for online talent search network Explore Talent were also looking to break into the business. But according to the FTC, the company violated the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Rule by collecting personal information from kids under 13 without getting the verifiable parental consent required by COPPA. The...

Military families face all the consumer protection issues other Americans face – and then some. Frequent moves and deployments can pose additional financial challenges for servicemembers. And some of these concerns continue even after they’ve settled into civilian life. That’s why the interests of military consumers – servicemembers, veterans, and their families – are front and center at the FTC and should be an important priority for companies...

If you operate a business, how you handle personal information can affect whether your customers, employees, and yes, even your business, are at risk of identity theft during tax season and all through the year. On Thursday, February 1, at 1 p.m. EST, experts from the FTC and IRS will host a free, one-hour webinar, Protecting Sensitive Business & Customer Data: Practical Identity Safety Practices. We’ll discuss identity theft, imposter scams that...

Like calling an NFL lineman “Tiny,” we appreciate an ironic name as much as the next person. But it’s different when a company calls itself – among other things – Consumer Defense, Preferred Law, and Modification Review Board and then makes allegedly deceptive claims regarding loan modification services to consumers struggling to hold onto their homes. An FTC lawsuit filed against a related group of 14 companies and individuals charges them with...

There’s one thing people struggling with opioid addiction need: the facts. And there’s something that can hinder their recovery and perhaps even lead to relapse: unproven treatments promoted with deceptive advertising claims. Partnering with federal health agencies, the FTC has announced efforts related to both issues – and there are steps your business can take to lend a hand. The FTC and SAMHSA (HHS’ Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services...

As the saying goes, some people wear their hearts on their sleeve. And many consumers who feel strongly that “American Made Matters” wear their hearts on their head. In other words, when selecting among competing derbies, fedoras, porkpies, or stingy brims, they may have chosen hats manufactured by Pennsylvania-based Bollman Hat Company and advertised with the claim “American Made Matters – Choose American.” An FTC complaint challenges that...

So you’ve received a Civil Investigative Demand (CID) from the Federal Trade Commission related to a consumer protection matter. Now what? We appreciate that it can be daunting for any company – especially a small business – and we want to be as transparent as possible about the process. Here are questions we’ve heard from businesses that have received CIDs and answers we hope shed some light on our procedures. (By the way, these FAQs apply to...

Last week, I spoke about a topic that has attracted a lot of popular interest in antitrust enforcement lately—vertical merger enforcement. We view vertical mergers as an important part of the FTC’s enforcement agenda. However, it is true that, relative to horizontal mergers, vertical mergers are a smaller part of the workload of the FTC and the DOJ’s Antitrust Division. I wanted to address that difference by discussing three issues: (1) what are...

When Acting Chairman Ohlhausen launched the FTC’s Economic Liberty Task Force in early 2017 to shine a spotlight on occupational licensing, the goal was not only to advocate for needed reforms. She also wanted to give a voice to the millions of American workers and consumers – especially military families – whose lives and livelihoods are impacted by misguided policies. Unnecessary licensing requirements affect workers throughout the economy and...

Some people say charity begins at home. But for telemarketers, truthful information about charity begins on the phone. That’s the message of an FTC settlement with InfoCision, an Ohio-based for-profit telemarketer that solicits contributions on behalf of well-known charities. If you represent professional charity fundraisers or have an affiliation with charitable organizations that ask for money by phone, it could be time for a Telemarketing...