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You know that eerie feeling that someone is following your every move? If someone secretly installed a “stalking app” or “stalkerware” sold by Retina-X Studios, LLC, onto your mobile device, that strange sensation could be way more than a feeling. A complaint against the developer and marketer alleges violations of the FTC Act and the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act Rule. Florida-based Retina-X and James N. Jones, Jr., marketed three...

There isn’t a competition to find ways to use social media to mislead consumers. (At least we hope there isn’t.) But with apologies to fans of a certain British baking program, separate FTC actions just might qualify two companies as “Star Fakers” for fabricating followers and skewing reviews. The cases demonstrate why cooking up deceptive tactics could land your business on an episode of The Great American Fake-Off. Devumi, LLC For individuals...

It’s International Charity Fraud Awareness Week, a global effort to help charities and donors avoid charity fraud. The FTC has united with state charities regulators, the National Association of State Charities Officials, and international partners in the campaign. By joining forces, we can reach more charities with information and advice. This year, the focus is on what charities can do to help defend against cyber threats. We hope businesses...

The FTC regularly revisits rules on the books to make sure they’re effective and up to date. Right now the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act Rule is under review. We asked for public comments in July and hosted a workshop on the Future of the COPPA Rule earlier this month. Given substantial interest in the subject, we’ve had requests to extend the current October 23, 2019, comment deadline. The Commission just announced that you now have...

The Bureau of Competition is pleased to announce the conversion of the Technology Task Force into a permanent division in the Bureau of Competition. Effective October 1, 2019, it has become the Technology Enforcement Division. Since the creation of the Task Force in February 2019, its attorneys have been tasked with monitoring competition and investigating potential anticompetitive conduct in U.S. technology markets. The conversion of the Task...

How would we describe PrivacyCon 2020? Is it Burning Man without the flames? The New Orleans Jazz Festival – minus the jazz and the festival? The best way to know what PrivacyCon is all about is to mark your calendar for July 21, 2020, and attend the FTC’s fifth annual gathering of leading privacy researchers. And check out our Call for Presentations to see if PrivacyCon would be a good forum for your recent research. Like its four predecessors...

Wondering what small and midsize businesses (SMBs) think about cybersecurity? Or maybe you work for a small or midsize business that would like to tell someone what you think. Here’s your chance. The Information Technology Sector Coordinating Council (IT SCC) and Department of Homeland Security (DHS) just released a voluntary survey about SMB cybersecurity practices – and they asked us to help get the word out. The survey is a joint effort...

What’s the future of the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act Rule? That’s the subject of today’s FTC workshop. If you’re COPPA-conscious, watch the webcast. The link will go live moments before the 9:00 ET start time.

A savvy business person always wants to know the shape of things to come. We won’t make predictions but, based on the FTC’s case against multi-level marketer AdvoCare International, we will say this: Don’t bet on a business model that looks like a pyramid. The FTC says Texas-based AdvoCare operated a pyramid scheme disguised as a business opportunity and swindled hundreds of thousands of consumers who signed up to be “distributors” of its health...

Technology changes at the speed of light, but the touchstone of the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act Rule remains constant. When it comes to the collection of their kids’ personal information online, parents are in charge. But how does that principle apply in technologies not originally anticipated by the COPPA Rule? Whether it’s social media, the Internet of Things, or educational technology, do changes in media and the marketplace...