On May 31, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC or Commission) announced two separate enforcement actions against Amazon—one involving its cloud-based voice service, Alexa, and the other involving Ring, its smart doorbell...more
6/7/2023
/ ALEXA ,
Amazon ,
Artificial Intelligence ,
Biometric Information ,
Consumer Privacy Rights ,
COPPA ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Cybersecurity ,
Data Deletion ,
Data Privacy ,
Deceptive Intent ,
Enforcement Priorities ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Personal Data ,
Popular ,
Settlement ,
Unfair or Deceptive Trade Practices
On May 17, 2023, the Federal Trade Commission (the “FTC”) reached a settlement with Easy Healthcare Corporation (“Easy Healthcare”), for its fertility-tracking app, Premom. The agency alleged that Easy Healthcare failed to...more
5/25/2023
/ Corporate Counsel ,
Data Privacy ,
Data Security ,
Data-Sharing ,
Electronic Protected Health Information (ePHI) ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Health Care Providers ,
Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) ,
HIPAA Breach Notification Rule ,
Mobile Apps ,
Mobile Health Apps ,
PHI ,
Policy Statement ,
Risk Mitigation
On May 18, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) issued a policy statement warning about the increased use of consumers’ biometric information and related marketing of technologies that use biometric information. The agency...more
5/23/2023
/ Biometric Information ,
Biometric Information Privacy Act ,
California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) ,
Data Collection ,
Data Privacy ,
Data Protection ,
Facial Recognition Technology ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
FTC Act ,
Policy Statement ,
Protected Class ,
Section 5 ,
State Privacy Laws ,
Unfair or Deceptive Trade Practices
On April 26, 2023, a bipartisan coalition of federal lawmakers proposed a new piece of legislation that would impose additional guardrails around the use of social media by children under eighteen. The Protecting Kids on...more
On May 1, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) released a blog post cautioning companies about the use of generative AI tools to change consumer behavior. Generative AI is a subset of AI that can generate new text, images, and...more
On April 25, 2023 four federal agencies—the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), the United States Department of Justice (DOJ), and the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission...more
5/2/2023
/ Algorithms ,
Anti-Discrimination Policies ,
Artificial Intelligence ,
Automation Systems ,
Bias ,
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Job Applicants ,
Joint Statements ,
Machine Learning
The use of generative artificial intelligence (“AI”) by businesses and consumers over the past several months has increased dramatically—driven in large part by the enormous visibility of ChatGPT as a new AI device, improved...more
On Thursday, March 2, the FTC announced an enforcement action against BetterHelp, Inc., an online mental health counseling service, relating to claims that the company’s collection and use of consumer health data were unfair...more
3/8/2023
/ Advertising ,
Data Breach ,
Data Privacy ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Enforcement Authority ,
Enforcement Priorities ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
FTC Act ,
Health Care Providers ,
Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) ,
LGBTQ ,
Mental Health ,
Pharmacies ,
Section 5 ,
Settlement ,
Telehealth ,
Unfair or Deceptive Trade Practices
On February 1, 2023, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) reached a settlement with digital health platform GoodRx for sharing users’ personal health information with third parties without properly disclosing their data...more
On December 19, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) reached two separate record-breaking settlements with Epic Games, Inc. (“Epic”) over allegations, among others, that the Fortnite video game maker knowingly violated the...more
On August 29, 2022, the California Age-Appropriate Design Code Act (the Act) was unanimously approved by the California State Senate. It now awaits Governor Gavin Newsom’s signature....more
9/15/2022
/ Children's Online Games ,
COPPA ,
Data Privacy ,
Data Protection Impact Assessments (DPIAs) ,
Enforcement ,
Governor Newsom ,
Minors ,
Online Platforms ,
Penalties ,
Pending Legislation ,
Social Networks ,
Websites
On August 11, 2022, the Federal Trade Commission (the FTC or the Commission) published an Advance Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (ANPR) to request public comment on the prevalence of “commercial surveillance and data security...more
On Wednesday, May 11, after a lengthy delay, the US Senate voted 51-50 to confirm Alvaro M. Bedoya as a Commissioner of the Federal Trade Commission (“FTC” or “Commission”), and he was sworn in on May 16. Bedoya fills the...more
On September 16, 2021, the Federal Trade Commission (“FTC” or “Commission”) held its third Open Commission Meeting in as many months. The Commission addressed four items: (1) whether to issue a policy statement affirming that...more
10/13/2021
/ Acquisitions ,
American Recovery and Reinvestment Act ,
Committee Meetings ,
Data Breach ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Hart-Scott-Rodino Act ,
Mobile App Privacy Guidelines ,
Mobile Apps ,
Non-Compete Agreements ,
PHI ,
Rulemaking Process ,
Size of Transaction Test ,
Technology Sector ,
Vertical Mergers
On July 21, 2021, the Federal Trade Commission (“FTC” or “Commission”) held its second Open Commission Meeting. There were three items on the agenda: (1) whether or not to rescind a 1995 policy statement on prior approval and...more
8/9/2021
/ Competition ,
Enforcement ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
FTC Act ,
Hart-Scott-Rodino Act ,
Magnuson-Moss Act ,
Manufacturers ,
Mergers ,
Policy Statement ,
Product Labels ,
Public Comment ,
Public Meetings ,
Right to Repair
On Thursday, July 1, the Federal Trade Commission held its first meeting under Chair Lina M. Khan and first open business meeting in over twenty years. The Commission considered four items during the nearly two hour long...more
7/13/2021
/ Administrative Procedure ,
Antitrust Provisions ,
Antitrust Violations ,
Enforcement Authority ,
Enforcement Priorities ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
FTC Act ,
Labeling ,
Made in the USA ,
Magnuson-Moss Act ,
Public Comment ,
Unfair or Deceptive Trade Practices
On June 7, 2021, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) announced a settlement with MoviePass relating to allegations that MoviePass and its executives took steps to block subscribers from using the service as advertised, and...more
Last Friday - on March 25, 2021 - Acting FTC Chairwoman Rebecca Kelly Slaughter announced the creation of a new rulemaking group within the FTC’s Office of the General Counsel. With this group, the FTC is poised to create new...more
In the wake of COVID-19, businesses have a host of health regulations and recommendations to consider before they resume in-person activity. Some employers plan to screen for symptoms, including regular thermal testing (or...more
The U.S. Supreme Court has agreed to wade into the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (“TCPA”) fray again - this time over what qualifies as an autodialer under the TCPA. On July 9, 2020, the Supreme Court granted writ of...more
Last week, the Federal Communications Commission’s Consumer and Governmental Affairs Bureau issued two declaratory rulings in matters relating to the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA). The TCPA is perhaps the most...more
On June 12, 2017, Nevada Governor Brian Sandoval signed into law SB 538 (“Nevada SB 538”), which requires operators of websites and online services to provide notice to Nevada residents of their practices relating to the...more