Business Blog

As many companies shift to an in-person workplace, you and your employees face the opportunities and challenges of the new new normal. Today is the first in a five-part Back to Business blog series to help ease the transition back to the office, including steps you can take to reduce the risk that COVID scammers, data thieves, and financial fraudsters will follow you there. One consideration for companies: assuring you’re in control of sensitive information.

Even for people who work on the most arcane frontiers of technology, there is a line of questioning that leaves them scratching their heads wondering where to begin. It’s when a colleague, friend, or family member asks “OK, Mr. or Ms. Tech Guru. I read a scary article about online privacy. What should I do to protect myself?” or “I just bought this nifty smart device. How can I use it safely?” The FTC has a new resource to help you answer those questions.

People facing infertility have a lot to think about in exploring the options available to them. But one thing that shouldn’t be on that list are unapproved products that make questionable claims to “treat” infertility. That’s the warning the FTC and the FDA have sent to companies that have pitched products to consumers searching for answers to what can be a complex medical condition.

The FTC takes a practical approach to its mission of protecting America’s consumers. That typically means law enforcement actions to challenge companies’ unfair or deceptive acts or practices. But depending on the facts, we may supplement law enforcement with other methods, including consumer education, business guidance, warning letters, national workshops, reports, and – in limited circumstances – staff closing letters.

It’s not like the FTC to dive in to a major law enforcement initiative, make a splash, and then leave the pool. If industry members thought December’s Operation CBDeceit was the end of the agency’s interest in deceptive health-related representations for CBD products, they were mistaken.

Consumers looking to get their products repaired at independent repair shops or with some DIY often find themselves in a fix. Nixing the Fix: An FTC Report to Congress on Repair Restrictions examines restrictions some manufacturers place on repairs and what can be done to expand consumers’ options.

FTC staff sent 30 warning letters to companies, raising concerns about their COVID-related advertising claims. In two notable ways, some of these letters differ from letters we’ve sent to other marketers pitching products advertised to prevent, treat, or cure COVID-19.

For businesses in the middle of a global pandemic, there’s no such thing as “business as usual.” The percentage of Americans working remotely has grown substantially, now reportedly up to 33% of the U.S. workforce. Accompanying that seismic shift have been increased security threats to data, with one analysis reporting that over 36 billion online records were exposed in the first half of 2020 alone. Consumers whose lives have been upended by identity theft are paying close attention to how corporations are responding.

Advances in artificial intelligence (AI) technology promise to revolutionize our approach to medicine, finance, business operations, media, and more. But research has highlighted how apparently “neutral” technology can produce troubling outcomes – including discrimination by race or other legally protected classes. For example, COVID-19 prediction models can help health systems combat the virus through efficient allocation of ICU beds, ventilators, and other resources.