FTC
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Microsoft hires former FTC figure for new privacy role
On Friday, Microsoft announced that it will create a new role for former Federal Trade Commissioner Julie Brill. Brill will take the lead on privacy, data protection and regulatory issues at Microsoft as the corporate vice president and deputy general counsel for its Privacy and Regulatory Affairs group. Read More
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FTC tells ‘influencers’ to quit trying to hide the fact that they’re shilling for brands
The Federal Trade Commission has put dozens of so-called influencers on notice for failing to adequately document the fact that their Instagram and such like posts are in fact thinly veiled ads for which the posters are being generously compensated. Read More
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Amazon will refund millions of unauthorized in-app purchases made by kids
Amazon will refund millions of unauthorized in-app purchases kids made on mobile devices, having now dropped its appeal of last year’s ruling by a federal judge who sided with the Federal Trade Commission in the agency’s lawsuit against Amazon. The FTC’s original complaint said that Amazon should be liable for millions of dollars it charged customers, because of the way… Read More
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Vizio settles for $2.2 million in FTC suit over snooping on consumers’ viewing habits
TV maker Vizio will pay $2.2 million to settle a lawsuit after it was shown that for years the company has been secretly collecting viewing data and selling it to third parties. The penalty may seem light, but the damage to the Vizio brand may be irreparable. Read More
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Qualcomm stock takes a sharp hit on heels of Apple and FTC filings
A rough start to the week for Qualcomm stock following a week that brought some major bad news in the form of an FTC antitrust complaint and a one $1 billion or so suit from one-time ally Apple. The chipmaker was already stumbling from an FTC complaint a week back that accused the company of instituting a “no license, no chips” policy that instituted higher fees and held down… Read More
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Ashley Madison settles with the FTC over online dating hack
More than a year after its total privacy meltdown, Ashley Madison will settle up. After news emerged that the company was subject to an investigation by the Federal Trade Commission, the company now faces a $17.5 million settlement as a result of the multi-state investigation. Lucky for Ruby Corp., the online dating service’s rebranded parent company, it will only pay only $1.66… Read More
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FTC complaint alleges Google, Disney & others profit from deceptive ads aimed at kids
Consumer watchdog groups, CCFC, Public Citizen, and the Center for Digital Democracy, are again targeting the deceptive advertising practices of “influencer marketing” in a new complaint filed with the FTC on Friday. The groups specifically call out Google’s YouTube and YouTube Kids, Disney-owned Maker Studios, Dreamworks’ AwesomenessTV and others, as being involved… Read More
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Court holds Amazon liable for years of unauthorized in-app purchases made by kids
In an entirely unsurprising ruling, a federal judge has sided with the FTC in the agency’s lawsuit against Amazon, which had said that the company did not do enough to safeguard customers against unauthorized in-app purchases made by children. According to the FTC’s original complaint, Amazon billed its customers millions of dollars in these charges. The problem came about… Read More
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YouTube Kids Faces Further FTC Complaints Related To Junk Food Ads Targeting Young Children
Consumer watchdog groups announced today they’ve filed additional complaints with the FTC over the advertising content in the YouTube Kids application. The complains this time focus on how the app allows food and drink advertisers to violate the self-regulatory pledges they made as members of the Children’s Food and Beverage Advertising Initiative (CFBAI). That program’s aim… Read More
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YouTube Addresses Complaints About Inappropriate Content In Updated YouTube Kids App
When YouTube first launched its dedicated “Kids” app earlier this year, parents welcomed the opportunity to be able to keep their children away from the more adult content found on the larger YouTube network, thanks to the new app’s curated selection of kid-friendly videos. But the app soon came under fire from consumer watchdog groups who claimed YouTube was not doing enough… Read More
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The FTC Warns Internet Of Things Businesses To Bake In Privacy And Security
The FTC has raised concerns about the complexity and privacy risks posed by the rise of an Internet of Things, with some 25 billion connected objects predicted to be online in 2015, and so-called smart home devices predicted to number around 25 million this year. Read More
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FTC Closes Its Yelp Investigation Without Taking Action
One of the biggest and most influential review platforms in the world, Yelp has constantly been hit with claims that it manipulates reviews so its advertisers get higher rankings. This led to an investigation by the Federal Trade Commission in early 2014 after 2,045 complaints were filed against the company. Now Yelp says the FTC has closed its investigation into Yelp’s business… Read More
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The FTC Sues AT&T Over ‘Unlimited’ Data Claims
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is suing AT&T for having “misled” millions of customers who purchase “unlimited” data plans for their phones, only to have the carrier later drastically reduce the amount of information they could access. According to the FTC’s complaint, AT&T throttled millions of customers tens of millions of times, sometimes after… Read More
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AOL, Adobe, Salesforce Among 30 US Companies Said To Be Violating EU Data Transfer Deal
Thirty US companies — including software giant Adobe, TechCrunch owner AOL and SaaS CRM purveyor Salesforce.com — have been identified as in probable violation of a EU-US agreement aimed at safeguarding personal data transfers in a complaint filed with the FTC by US consumer privacy rights NGO the Center for Digital Democracy. Read More
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FTC Takes Legal Action Against Amazon For Unauthorized In-app Purchases
The Federal Trade Commission filed a complaint against Amazon Thursday, alleging the company billed parents for millions of dollars of in-app purchases that their children made without their consent. The filing follows Amazon’s refusal to comply with the FTC’s request to implement a “consent” model similar to the one Apple conceded to earlier this year, according to… Read More
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FTC Accuses T-Mobile Of Allowing Shady Scams To Sneak Onto Your Phone Bill (Update: T-Mobile Responds!)
The FTC is taking T-Mobile to court. Their claim? T-Mobile is allowing shady text messaging scams to sneak onto your bill, and making “hundreds of millions of dollars” by not doing enough to stop it. Updated with a response from T-Mobile’s CEO Read More
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FTC Says Facebook Will Need Permission From WhatsAppers To Use Their Data
Facebook will need the “affirmative consent” of WhatsApp users in order to use their data for advertising or anything. The ruling comes from Federal Trade Commission alongside its approval in US for Facebook to acquire WhatsApp. The $19 billion deal announced in February will still have to get past international regulators. Facebook’s business model is based on mining… Read More
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Report: Google Could Soon Face New FTC Antitrust Probe Into Its Display Ads Business
Bloomberg today reports that Google could face a new U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) antitrust probe into its display advertising business. As Bloomberg’s Brian Womack and Sara Forden note, the FCC is looking into whether Google used its strong position in this market to “illegally curb competition.” The investigators, the report also notes, want to see if Google used… Read More
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Report: To Settle With EU Regulators, Google Proposes To Link To 3 Competitors Every Time It Links To Itself
Google’s search results in Europe could soon look a bit different if a number of new reports about the company’s settlement with the European Union’s competition commission are correct. After a three-year investigation into its potentially anti-competitive practices, Google submitted its proposal for an agreement with the EU last week, but the details remained under wraps. Read More
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