Days before Thanksgiving, the Federal Trade Commission secured a $3.15 million judgment against a telemarketing company that “defrauded financially distressed consumers throughout the United States by selling them bogus credit-card interest-rate-reduction services.”
In late 2017, the FTC brought claims against Higher Goals Marketing LLC (“HGM”) and multiple other defendants, alleging that the company violated Section
A recent report issued by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Private Education Loan Ombudsman recommends actions against scammers who seek to take advantage of and abuse student loan borrowers by offering no-value and sometimes harmful services.
On October 15, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Private Education Loan Ombudsman issued its 2019 Annual Report, which actually
On September 19, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and the Federal Trade Commission announced they will hold a joint public workshop on December 10 related to key issues of accuracy governed by the Fair Credit Reporting Act, including those related to the accuracy of both traditional credit reports as well as employment and tenant background
On August 21, the Federal Trade Commission approved a final consent order settling charges that SecurTest, Inc., a background screening company, falsely claimed to be in compliance with international privacy frameworks.
The EU-U.S. and Swiss-U.S. Privacy Shield frameworks establish standards for the transfer of consumer data from European Union countries and Switzerland to the United
On July 24, the Federal Trade Commission filed an administrative complaint against Cambridge Analytica, alleging that the company deceived consumers by falsely claiming it did not collect any personally identifiable information from Facebook users. The FTC alleges that Cambridge Analytica in fact collected users’ Facebook User ID—which can include users’ real names—as well as other
On July 25, the Federal Trade Commission published a request for public comment on its implementation of the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (“COPPA”) through the COPPA Rule.
COPPA regulates how websites and online services collect data and personal information from children. The FTC’s COPPA Rule requires that such operators who collect personal information from
On June 24, the Consumer Education Foundation (“CEF”), a California-based nonprofit consumer organization, filed a petition with the Federal Trade Commission requesting that it investigate the use of so-called “Secret Surveillance Scores” in the consumer market. The complaint alleges that consumer data points are covertly tracked and amassed by private firms to create a single
On June 21, the U.S. District Court for the District of Connecticut granted a temporary restraining order to the Federal Trade Commission to stop the operations of Grand Teton Professionals, a credit repair company. The FTC previously filed a complaint against Grand Teton and related entities, including its owners in their individual capacities – alleging
On June 25, the Federal Trade Commission announced a partnership with law enforcement to target illegal robocalls, including 94 actions aimed at operations around the nation that are responsible for more than a billion robocalls. “Operation Call it Quits” is aimed at reducing the number of pre-recorded telemarketing calls and includes new information aimed at
The Federal Trade Commission has announced a settlement with LightYear Dealer Technologies, LLC, doing business as DealerBuilt, a company that sells software and data services to auto dealers. The FTC alleged that DealerBuilt’s poor data security practices resulted in a breach that exposed the personal information of millions of consumers. A hacker gained unauthorized access