FTC

The Sad Truth of the FTC’s Location Data Privacy Settlement

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The US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) reached a settlement last week with an American data broker known to sell location data gathered from hundreds of phone apps to the US government, among others. According to the agency, the company ignored in some cases the requests of consumers not to do so, and more broadly failed … Read more

The Obscure Google Deal That Defines America’s Broken Privacy Protections

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Joseph Jerome, who left privacy advocacy to work on Meta’s augmented reality data policies for two years before being laid off in May, says he grew to appreciate how consent decrees force companies to work on privacy. They add “checks and balances,” he says. But without clear privacy protection rules from lawmakers that bind every … Read more

The FTC proposes new rules to curb the monetization of children’s data

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The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has proposed new changes to the regulations it currently enforces under the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA), seeking to further limit the collection and use of children’s data by tech companies, especially when used for targeted advertising. “Kids must be able to play and learn online without being endlessly … Read more

iFixit wants the FTC to issue stronger right-to-repair rules

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Right-to-repair proponents are asking the FTC to introduce new rules for electronics manufacturers that aim to make it easier for consumers to fix their own devices. The repair guide site iFixit and the US Public Interest Research Group (PIRG) on Tuesday submitted a petition to the federal agency, with the end goal of kicking off … Read more

Jeff Bezos urged Amazon to flood search results with junk ads: FTC

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Amazon Founder and CEO Jeff Bezos speaks to the media on the company’s sustainability efforts in Washington on September 19, 2019. Eric Baradat | AFP | Getty Images Amazon flooded its search results with irrelevant “defect” ads at the direction of Founder Jeff Bezos, pumping Amazon profits while steering shoppers to higher-priced goods, the Federal … Read more

Amazon’s secret pricing scheme made it an extra $1 billion, FTC says

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Amazon’s secret pricing algorithm, codenamed “Project Nessie,” may have generated the company more than $1 billion in extra profits, according to new details released Thursday from the Federal Trade Commission’s antitrust case against the e-commerce giant.  In September, the FTC and more than a dozen state attorneys general sued Amazon, claiming that the company operates … Read more

FTC sues bankrupt crypto company Voyager’s CEO over false FDIC insurance claims

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After settling on Thursday with the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), bankrupt crypto company Voyager is permanently banned from handling consumers’ assets. But the government agency also announced on Thursday that it’s suing Voyager’s former CEO, Stephen Ehrlich, for falsely claiming that users’ accounts were FDIC insured. When a bank or financial service is FDIC insured, … Read more

Fortnite Eligible To Get Paid From $520 Million FTC Settlement

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It is about to start raining cash for Fortnite players! Game players who were affected by an unwanted purchase scam that took place between January 2017 and September 2022 are eligible for a refund after the online game finally settled with the Federal Trade Commission over their alleged fraudulent actions. Fortnite Sets Aside $245M To … Read more

Amazon’s All-Powerful ‘Buy Box’ Is at the Heart of Its New Antitrust Troubles

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Anyone who has shopped on Amazon will have seen the Buy Box with its peppy yellow and orange Add to Cart and Buy Now buttons. The US Federal Trade Commission has seen it too, and made it central to an antitrust case filed against Amazon today. The long-anticipated government complaint, joined by 17 state attorneys … Read more