Tag: FTC

The Battle over the Ban of Noncompetes Continues as FTC Receives Unfavorable Ruling

In April 2023, the Federal Trade Commission announced that that it would be banning noncompete agreements in order to promote competition. Although this historic announcement was meant to change the entire landscape of the employment industry within the U.S., the FTC’s push to ban these agreements raised much skepticism from Read More

TikTok Logo

FTC Investigation Triggers Lawsuit Against TikTok for Children’s Privacy Violations

As a result of the Federal Trade Commission’s investigation, the Department of Justice sued TikTok and its parent company ByteDance with flagrantly violating a children’s privacy law—the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act—and also alleged they infringed an existing FTC 2019 consent order against TikTok for violating COPPA. The complaint alleges Read More

FTC Issues Orders to Companies Seeking Information on Surveillance Pricing

The Federal Trade Commission issued orders to eight companies offering surveillance pricing products and services that incorporate data about consumers’ characteristics and behavior. The orders seek information about the potential impact these practices have on privacy, competition, and consumer protection. The orders are aimed at helping the FTC better understand the dense Read More

Vroom truck delivers a car

FTC Holds Vroom Responsible For Misleading Its Customers

The Federal Trade Commission announced that it is holding online used car dealer Vroom responsible for misrepresenting that it thoroughly examined all vehicles before listing them for sale and failing to obtain consumers’ consent to shipment delays or provide prompt refunds when cars weren’t delivered in the time Vroom promised. Read More

Data location

FTC Enacts First-Ever Ban on Selling Sensitive Location Data

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has prohibited data broker X-Mode Social and its successor Outlogic from sharing or selling sensitive location data as part of a settlement resulting from allegations that the company sold precise location data that could be used to track people’s visits to private locations. In its Read More

Children using technology covered under COPPA

FTC Proposes Significant Changes to Online Protection Rules for Children

The Federal Trade Commission has proposed changes to the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) that would place new restrictions on the use and disclosure of children’s personal information and limit companies from profiting from children’s data. With these proposed changes, the FTC intends for the Act to reflect technological Read More

FTC Expands Data Breach Reporting Requirements to Nonbank Financial Firms

The Federal Trade Commission has altered its data security rule, known as the Safeguards Rule, to require nonbank financial firms—including mortgage brokers, auto dealers, and payday lenders—to report data breaches to the agency, according to an announcement made Friday. The FTC’s Safeguards Rule requires non-banking financial institutions, such as mortgage brokers, Read More

Drizly hit for security failures

FTC Slams Drizly for Data Security Failures Following Data Breach

Online alcohol marketplace Drizly has been ordered to implement numerous data security measures following a data breach that exposed the personal information of about 2.5 million consumers in 2020, the Federal Trade Commission announced Jan. 10. Additionally, the FTC ordered Drizly CEO James Cory Rellas to “implement an information-security program Read More

Epic Games

Fortnite Video Game Maker Under Fire for Violating Child Privacy Laws

Epic Games, creator of the popular video game Fortnite, has been ordered to pay a total of $520 million in two separate record-breaking settlements with the Federal Trade Commission for alleged violations of the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA). As part of a proposed federal court order filed by Read More

Vonage to pay $100M in FTC Settlement

Vonage, a subsidiary of Ericsson, has been ordered by the Federal Trade Commission to pay a record $100 million settlement to be used to refund harmed consumers after the internet phone service provider imposed junk fees and created obstacles for consumers who tried to cancel their service. According to the Read More