Tag: Consumer Protection

Remember Saturday Night Live’s “Coffee Talk with Linda Richman”? When the host got verklempt, she suggested a paradoxical conversation starter – “The chickpea is neither a chick nor a pea,” “Rhode...

On her Control album, Janet Jackson posed the musical question, “What have you done for me lately?” It’s a fair question for small businesses to ask the FTC and the most recent answer would be “ Sent...

Every spring at colleges across the country, many graduates receive a diploma in their hand – and an albatross around their neck. The burden of student loan debt weighs heavily on American families...

Companies and consumers are talking in a different way these days about cannabidiol (CBD), a chemical compound derived from the cannabis plant. But even as the conversation changes, one thing remains...

Do consumers notice consumer class action notices? That’s one of the topics that experts will discuss at an upcoming FTC workshop on issues related to communicating with consumers about class actions...

Had you asked yesterday, we would have said the largest financial remedy for violations of the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act Rule was $5.7 million. Today’s $170 million total monetary...

For businesses that choose to participate, the EU-U.S. Privacy Shield framework establishes a process to allow them to transfer consumer data from European Union countries to the United States in...

Colleges are known for team sports, but it’s an unfortunate fact that consumer deception can be a team sport, too. A proposed FTC settlement with Career Education Corporation, American...

We like to think of September 26th as a notable date in consumer protection history. On that day in 1914, the Federal Trade Commission opened its doors. And on that day in 2019, the FTC will convene a...

We tell businesses it’s wise to disclose prices clearly. So it’s only right that we follow our own advice. Before calling consumers, telemarketers must “scrub” their lists against the National Do Not...

The time has come to take a closer look at loot boxes. The FTC’s workshop, Inside the Game: Unlocking the Consumer Issues Surrounding Loot Boxes, begins at 10:00 ET today. Moments before the start...

According to musical legend, a buddy of songwriter Jim Weatherly commented that his girlfriend was leaving on the “midnight plane to Houston.” The buddy was Lee Majors of Six Million Dollar Man fame...

For members of the videogame industry, loot boxes are no game. They’re a serious part of the revenue stream. But do loot boxes – grab bags of digital goodies bought with in-game virtual currency or...

The data that Facebook collects about its users could reveal a lot about users’ personalities. A company named Cambridge Analytica sure thought so. The FTC alleges Cambridge Analytica used false and...

If you’ve ever wondered what a paradigm shift looks like, you’re witnessing one today. The FTC’s $5 billion civil penalty against Facebook for violations of an earlier FTC order is record-breaking and...

Patch your software. Segment your network. Monitor for intruders. According to tech experts, those are security basics for businesses of any size. But when you’re industry giant Equifax – a company in...

No – nobody is really suggesting a block on kids. But the FTC is taking a fresh look at the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Rule and we couldn’t resist the title’s reference to 90s tweens’...

How do repair restrictions for tech devices, appliances, cars, etc., affect consumers and small businesses? What are the arguments for and against? And what’s the fix? Those are topics of Nixing the...

Coldplay sang “Fix You,” but if the group had been referring to their tech devices, cars, or other products in need of repair, their efforts could have consumer protection ramifications. A July 16...

The FTC has been keeping a close watch on the Internet of Things since the Internet of Things became a thing to watch. That includes law enforcement actions against companies alleged to have sold...