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Combatting robocalls has been and continues to be an important area of enforcement for State Attorneys General, as we have previously reported. On October 18, 2024, the Anti-Robocall Multistate Litigation Task Force (Task Force), comprised of 51 bipartisan State AGs, released a notice letter outlining concerns that a Florida-based company was “transmitting suspected illegal robocall traffic on behalf of one or more of its customers” and cautioning that the company “should cease transmitting any illegal traffic immediately.” The letter, which was addressed to iDentidad Advertising Development LLC dba iDentidad Telecom (iDentidad), is illustrative of the collaboration not only among State AGs, but also with federal agencies and private industry, on the issue of robocalls.
On Tuesday, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) released the final version of the Personal Financial Data Rights Rule that requires many financial institutions, credit card issuers, and other financial service providers that facilitate payments (including mobile wallets and payment apps) to support new open banking standards and make account records accessible and portable. The CFPB uses the term “open banking” to refer to the ability of customers to share personal financial data between a network of entities.
Much has already been said and written about the FTC’s recent enforcement initiative, dubbed “Operation AI Comply.” The coordinated sweep announced last month involved five separate FTC enforcement actions against companies using or claiming to use AI tools to enhance consumer goods and services. For example, as part of the sweep, the FTC targeted a company called DoNotPay that claimed its “AI Lawyer” services could substitute for a human lawyer and “replace the $200-billion-dollar legal industry with artificial intelligence” – claims that we, as KDW attorneys, were glad to see were found not to be substantiated. The sweep also involved enforcement actions against three business opportunity providers that claimed their AI tools could help customers generate passive income via online storefronts.
Last week, the FTC, by a 3-2 vote along party lines, adopted its click-to-cancel rule, which purports to make it easier to cancel gym memberships, streaming services, and the like. [We wrote about it here.] The final rule will apply across the economy to any business that offers negative option plans (e.g., subscriptions) and would provide the Commission with the ability to obtain civil penalties from covered entities for any misrepresentation about the underlying product or service.
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