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The sellers of Synovia claimed their dietary supplement “paves the pot holes” in joints damaged by arthritis. But an FTC lawsuit alleges the primary pot holes were in the company’s purported proof, which left consumers streamrollered by false and deceptive advertising claims. Colorado-based A.S. Research and owners Stephen J. Young and Michael K. Ledeboer promoted Synovia in newspaper ads, online, and in direct mail “magalogs” – multipage...

There are foundational consumer protection principles that bear repeating whenever the opportunity arises. The FTC’s just-announced decision in the Cambridge Analytica case offers just such an opportunity. You’ll want to read the complaint to get the full picture, but here are some salient facts. In late 2013 or early 2014, Cambridge Analytica – which described itself as a “data-science consultancy and marketing agency” – learned of research...

The FTC and its law enforcement partners are waging the war against illegal telemarketing on many fronts. An amended complaint in a pending case filed by the FTC and the Ohio Attorney General seeks to hold an additional adversary responsible for violations of the law: Globex Telecom, a VoIP service provider that allegedly played a key role in subjecting consumers to a barrage of illegal calls for a bogus credit card interest rate reduction scheme...

You know the importance of strong cybersecurity, but have you heard about free vulnerability testing? As part of its mission to protect the nation’s cyber infrastructure, the Department of Homeland Security’s Cyber-Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) offers free vulnerability scanning to government, critical infrastructure, and private businesses. What does this mean for you? You may be eligible for no-cost vulnerability scanning that will...

How central is accuracy to the credit reporting system? It’s important enough that Congress mentioned it in the second line of the Fair Credit Reporting Act – and more than 70 times in the text of the statute. On December 10, 2019, the FTC and CFPB will host a public workshop to talk about issues affecting the accuracy of both traditional credit reports and background screening reports used by employers and landlords. It’s a discussion you and...

Want to be your company’s Privacy Shield hero? Four proposed FTC settlements suggest actions you can take to keep your business Privacy Shield-compliant. The EU-U.S. Privacy Shield framework enables companies to lawfully transfer consumer data from European Union countries to the United States. (There also is a Swiss-U.S. framework.) The Department of Commerce administers both frameworks, while the FTC challenges false or deceptive...

It’s the Business Blog equivalent of a Thanksgiving tradition: our annual reminder to share tips at your holiday gathering about avoiding those other kinds of turkeys – consumer scams. We’ve introduced you to the FTC’s interactive Age & Fraud Loss graphic on our Tableau Public page. As the green bean casserole bakes, take a moment to explore the page for advice tailored to family members of every generation. For young adults. Reports in the FTC’s...

Under COPPA, how do I know if my channel is “directed to children”? Since the FTC and New York Attorney General announced their September 2019 settlement with YouTube for violations of the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act Rule, we’ve heard that question from channel owners – sometimes called content creators. If you ’re a channel owner who shares content on user-generated platforms like YouTube, read on for FTC staff guidance about the...

The Commission and Department of Justice’s recent case against Canon Inc. and Toshiba Corporation for violating the Hart-Scott-Rodino Antitrust Improvements Act makes an important point: restructuring a deal to avoid or delay an HSR filing may subject the merging companies to substantial penalties if the restructured transaction still results in an acquisition by the A side. As antitrust practitioners know, HSR Rule 801.90 provides that whenever...

Holmes & Watson. Crockett & Tubbs. Cagney & Lacey. The anna ls of f iction are replete with dynamic law enforcement duos. But their make-believe exploits can’t compare with the real-life efforts of law enforcers who work cooperatively to protect America’s consumers. The Criminal Liaison Unit of the FTC’s Bureau of Consumer Protection just honored one of those indispensable partners – United States Postal Inspector/Team Leader Lisa D. Mayberry –...