In 2012, Upromise, Inc. settled allegations that it violated the FTC Act by offering its users a “TurboSaver Toolbar” – a software download which purportedly “highlighted and identified” partner companies in online search results – without accurately disclosing the scope of its personal data collection practices Specifically, the FTC alleged that extensive information was unknowingly … Read more
Imposter scam complaints surpassed identity theft for the first time as the second most common category of consumer complaints received by the Federal Trade Commission’s Consumer Sentinel Network in 2016, according to the agency’s new Data Book. Debt collection complaints remained the top consumer complaint category. The rise in impostor scam reports is due to … Read more
Just about everyone these days accesses the internet on multiple devices. Whether it is a PC and smartphone, a phone and tablet, office PC and laptop, or any other type of combination (or more likely, all of the above), ad networks work hard to track activities on all of them. When ad networks can track … Read more
Maureen Ohlhausen, a Republican on the Federal Trade Commission, has been appointed interim chair of the FTC by President Trump. Ohlhausen succeeds FTC Chair Edith Ramirez, who was sworn in as a commissioner in 2010 and is resigning effective February 10, 2017. Recently, amongst growing speculation, Ohlhausen provided some insight into the Commission’s consumer protection … Read more
The Federal Trade Commission has successfully taken down another accused Pay Day Scammer, Jason A. Kotzker, who is also an attorney. He had been charged by the feds in this case for selling personal information from people who thought they were applying for payday loans online and sold it to a scam that tapped consumers’ … Read more
Calling the actions of a collection of lead generation companies “Illegal Acts,” the FTC has taken action against Consumer Education Group aka ePath Media operating out of California and Colorado. They have settled Federal Trade Commission charges that, between late 2013 and 2015, it made millions of illegal telemarketing calls to consumers on the national … Read more
According to reports, the number of Do-Not-Call complaints in New York State has been steadily increasing. New Yorkers filed more than 228,900 Do-Not-Call complaints in 2014 and more than 241,658 complaints in 2015. Approximately 200,000 Do-Not-Call complaints were lodged by New Yorkers in the first six months of 2016. As a result, on December 1, … Read more
The Knowledge Group/The Knowledge Congress Live Webcast Series, the leading producer of regulatory focused webcasts, has announced today that Laura M. Sullivan, Senior Attorney, Federal Trade Commission will speak at the Knowledge Group’s webcast entitled: “FTC’s Native Advertising Guidance: What You Need to Know.” This two-hour event is scheduled on December 16, 2016 at 12:00 … Read more
The transition of power from President Barack Obama to President-Elect Donald Trump is underway. Although President-Elect Trump did not lay out specific policy prescriptions about data privacy or consumer protection during his candidacy, his recent choice of Dr. Joshua D. Wright to lead transition efforts at the Federal Trade Commission provides some hints as to … Read more
HIPAA, the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, provides regulation for the use of a person’s health information. The HIPAA Privacy Rule, sets the definition of how a covered entity is to use personally identifiable health related information of an individual. In short, it prevents healthcare providers from supplying personally identifiable health information of an … Read more
The FTC has shut down a multinational tech support company that they allege are using pop-up ads with loud siren type audio sounds, to alert computer users of false security threats. The alerts prompt the users to call a toll-free number that connects them to overseas telemarketers. These telemarketers then offer, for hundreds of dollars, … Read more
LeadClick (now owned by CoreLogic) managed an affiliate marketing network, until it closed its doors in 2011 and moved it’s entire business to CoreLogic. LeanSpa started using LeadClick’s services in 2010, agreeing to pay LeadClick $35-$45 for each consumer that clicked on a link that originated on an affiliates site, and then enrolled into LeanSpa’s … Read more
Warner Bros’ high-pressure anti-piracy campaign went one step further last month, as the entertainment company named its own website in a list of sites that it believed had illegally infringed on its copyright. While most people can’t get Google to remove anything from their search results, Warner Bros has gone a step further and been … Read more
The FTC released their National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) framework for security back in February of 2014, after a 2013 executive order that required certain agencies and companies to improve their cyber security. Since then, the NIST framework has become something of a de facto standard in many ways, even when people don’t … Read more