HyperBeard, Inc., a developer of popular children’s applications, has agreed to settle with the Federal Trade Commission over allegations of its failure to comply with the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act Rule (“COPPA Rule”). HyperBeard agreed to pay $150,000 in fines and to delete the information allegedly obtained from children under 13 years old without
Miniclip, S.A., a Swiss-based company developing online games, recently settled with the Federal Trade Commission over false claim allegations made in connection to the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (“COPPA”). In its complaint, the FTC alleged that Miniclip falsely claimed to be a valid member of the Children’s Advertising Review Unit’s (“CARU”) COPPA safe harbor
As the coronavirus (“COVID-19”) testing increases across the country, state health departments have been implementing contact tracing to contain viral spread. Contact tracing identifies and monitors individuals who have come into contact with others who have tested positive for COVID-19. Typically, contract tracers work with infected individuals to obtain the contact information for everyone with
As many companies continue to struggle in the face of the coronavirus (“COVID-19”) pandemic, some of them can add increased regulatory scrutiny to their list of stressors. Over the last couple of months, the United States Federal Trade Commission and the Food and Drug Administration have issued over 100 warning letters to companies making allegedly
The status of the Louisiana Public Service Commission’s (“Commission”) potential enforcement of the available emergency measures pursuant to the Do Not Call General Order (Docket No. R_29617, decided Oct. 11, 2006) (“DNC Order”) has been unclear. While these emergency measures generally have been imposed during prior emergencies, they presently remain unimplemented despite Governor John Bel
On Friday, April 23, the United States District Court for the District of Columbia approved Facebook’s $5 billion settlement with the Federal Trade Commission, nearly 10 months after the FTC had announced it in July 2019. The settlement is the largest penalty in history for a violation of consumer privacy, the largest obtained by the
On April 22, the Supreme Court of Appeals of West Virginia issued another amended emergency order extending court deadlines. The order can be found here. The Court’s new order delays all court deadlines for matters scheduled to occur during the emergency period from March 23, 2020 to May 15, 2020 until May 18, 2020.
On April 17, the Federal Trade Commission filed a complaint against Ponte Investments, LLC – a Rhode Island-based company – and its owner, John C. Ponte, claiming that they misrepresented Ponte Investments as an approved small business lender for the federal coronavirus (“COVID-19”) relief program. The FTC has sought a permanent injunction and other equitable
The Federal Trade Commission released guidance for increasing privacy and data security while videoconferencing over the internet. The FTC is recommending that video conference users take the following steps:
On April 6, the Federal Trade Commission announced a settlement with Tapplock, Inc. for falsely claiming in its privacy policy that its fingerprint-sensing smart locks were “unbreakable” and that it followed “industry best practices” to ensure that a user’s personal information was protected. After three security researchers identified various physical and electronic vulnerabilities with the