Blog Posts Tagged with Children

Parents want to make the best choices for their babies’ health. But between diaper changes and 2 AM feedings, they aren’t in a position to spend much time surveying the scientific literature for ways to reduce the chance their kid will develop the allergies they suffer from. So when Gerber (also doing business as Nestle Nutrition) advertised Good Start Gentle baby formula as a way to “reduce the risk of developing allergies” – and featured a gold seal on products suggesting FDA approval – it’s understandable that parents would take note.

The polar bears and penguins sold within kids’ apps offered in the Google Play Store may have been virtual, but the unauthorized charges Moms and Dads got stuck with were all too real.  A proposed FTC settlement will refund at least $19 million to parents whose accounts were charged illegally, according to the complaint, and will implement enforceable changes in how Google handles in-app purchases.  Of course, the order applies just to Google, but the case of

For some athletes and fans, September is the equivalent of the start of the sports “new year.” From the FTC’s perspective, it’s a good time to remind retailers that they need appropriate proof to support concussion protection claims for athletic mouthguards. That’s why FTC staff has sent letters to five major retailers, alerting them to concerns about what they’re promising on their websites.

Update (3/27/14): Apple will notify people about how to get refunds by April 15. The settlement requires Apple to provide full refunds for in-app charges made by kids without parental permission.

Tell people your baby is adorable and no doubt you have the photos to back it up.  But market a product called “Your Baby Can Read!” and you better have real proof.  According to a lawsuit filed by the FTC, ads for the “Your Baby Can Read!” program made false and deceptive claims that the product could teach infants and toddlers to read.

Whether you’re a full-pads athlete or a quarterback of the Monday morning variety, you’ve read reports about sports-related concussions.  But before marketing a product advertised to reduce the risk of those injuries, businesses should take a careful look at the FTC’s settlement with Pennsylvania-based Brain-Pad, Inc.

Are there hotter topics these days than data security and kids’ privacy?  An FTC law enforcement settlement with the social networking site RockYou ticks both of those topical boxes and challenges a course of conduct the FTC says made it easier for hackers to access the personal information of 32 million users.  The complaint also alleges the company collected info from kids in violation of the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act.