Proskauer on Privacy

Category Archives: FTC Enforcement

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FTC’s One-Two Punch on Data Tracking and Health Privacy

On March 2, 2023, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) announced that it had reached a $7.8 million settlement with mental health and online counseling platform, BetterHelp, Inc. (“BetterHelp”). The FTC alleged that BetterHelp shared  consumers’ sensitive health data combined with other personal information (PI) with third party advertising platforms without first obtaining affirmative consent and … Continue Reading

FTC Seeks to Move Beyond Notice and Consent to Restrict Data Collection and Use

The FTC indicated that it will use its rulemaking authority under the FTC Act’s Section 18 to create a new rule that will likely seek to rein in broad data collection and use. In October 2021, FTC Commissioner Rebecca Kelly Slaughter made two speeches in which she expressed a desire to move beyond the FTC’s … Continue Reading

The Future of the FTC: Part II

A previous blog post discussed FTC Chairwoman Slaughter’s first priority as the newly designated chairwoman – the COVID-19 pandemic. The FTC’s second priority, racial equity, can be broken down into two sub issues. First, the FTC plans to investigate biased and discriminatory algorithms that target vulnerable communities. As the FTC acknowledges, the analysis of data … Continue Reading

The Future of the FTC: Part I

On January 21, 2021, President Biden designated Federal Trade Commission (the “FTC”) Commissioner Rebecca Kelly Slaughter as acting chair of the FTC. Soon thereafter in one of her first speeches in her new role, Chairwoman Slaughter announced two substantive areas of priority for the FTC – the COVID-19 pandemic and racial equity.… Continue Reading

Cybersecurity: SEC and Other Regulators

In today’s world, cybersecurity breaches and threats are pervasive concerns for any business entity, without exception. Working from home arrangements due to COVID-19 constraints only magnify the risk and create further vulnerabilities for companies. Companies should be aware of (1) the key cyber threats they face, (2) the consequences of a breach, and (3) the … Continue Reading

A Year in Review: FTC Data Privacy Actions and its Impacts on 2017 and Beyond

Whether it means taking a prominent role shaping data security for the Internet of Things, or addressing high profile breaches, the FTC has adopted an active position in policing data privacy and security. And, as data becomes increasingly digital in its form and protections, data security is of paramount importance for all types of intelligence—whether … Continue Reading

Consumer Review Fairness Act Taking Effect

The Consumer Review Fairness Act (CRFA) began to take effect yesterday, March 14, 2017. One aim of the CRFA is to protect consumers’ ability to publicly review services and vendors without being subject to restrictions or fines imposed by form contracts. It does so by voiding provisions within form contracts between consumers and service providers … Continue Reading

FTC: LabMD Tests Positive for “Unfair” Security Practices

LabMD’s lack of data security measures resulted in the FTC Commission overturning an Administrative Law Judge (“ALJ”) decision that previously dismissed charges against the company in November. LabMD performed laboratory medical testing for over 750,000 patients since 2001, before going out of business in 2014, partly due to fighting this case. The FTC brought the … Continue Reading

Regulators Offer Guidance on Privacy and Security for Health App Developers

This month, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) issued guidance on privacy and security best practices for health-related mobile apps, such as fitness apps connected with wearables, diet and weight loss apps, and health insurance portals.  At the same time, the FTC unveiled an interactive tool designed to direct health app developers to federal laws and … Continue Reading

Privacy Advocates and ISPs Spar over Targeted Ads

The Federal Communication Commission’s (the “FCC”) landmark decision last year to reclassify Internet service providers (“ISPs”) as common carriers under Title II of the Communications Act of 1934 implicates policy issues that extend well beyond net neutrality.  Perhaps chief among them is the treatment of customer proprietary network information (“CPNI”) by broadband access providers.  The … Continue Reading

Baby You Can Drive My Car

Consumers can expect many benefits from their cars’ increased data collection programs, running the gamut from simple location services like GPS and OnStar to “networked” cars that can communicate their location with other cars on the road to prevent accidents. In the near-future, data collection will even allow cars to care for themselves: technologies currently … Continue Reading

The Legacy of the RadioShack Bankruptcy and the Importance of PII

Customer information has become an increasingly valuable business asset.  And, the volume and detail of other available information about consumers has increased along with it, well beyond mere customer names and addresses to preferences, purchasing history, and online activity.  This means that when a business is sold, customer information is often sold along with it.  … Continue Reading

FTC Issues Report and Privacy Best Practices for the Internet of Things

On January 27, 2015 the Federal Trade Commission (the “FTC”) issued a report detailing best practices and recommendations that businesses engaged in the Internet of Things (“IoT”) can follow to protect consumer privacy and security. The IoT refers to the connection of everyday objects to the Internet and the transmission of data between those devices. … Continue Reading

Shaking Up the Settlement Process: FTC Reconsiders Whether Companies Can Deny Wrongdoing While Settling Privacy Violation Claims

The Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”) recently announced settlements of cases brought against Google and Facebook for alleged privacy violations. The Google settlement drew headlines for being the largest fine ever assessed for the violation of a FTC consent order ($22.5 million).  But Commissioner J. Thomas Rosch’s dissents are perhaps more momentous, as they have prompted the … Continue Reading

Peek-A-Boo The FTC Sees You: A Need to Know for Members of the Kids App Eco-System

Whether your six year old has hijacked your iPad again to rediscover the inexplicable joy of flinging birds with a finger activated slingshot or to harness her mighty math powers in the origami-paved streets of Umi City, children are tapping into the spring of entertainment and educational value offered by the mobile applications marketplace. Yet, according to a study issued last week by the Federal Trade Commission "Mobile Apps for Kids: Current Privacy Disclosures are DisAPPointing", the lack of privacy disclosures in these apps may hint at deeper laden privacy pitfalls which members of the kids app ecosystem may soon have to remedy. … Continue Reading

Do I really have to obtain consent from all my customers to make a change to my privacy policy?

"Do I really have to obtain consent from all my customers to make a change to my privacy policy?  No one else seems to be following that rule." We get this question all the time.  It is understandable, given that we often watch Web-based companies expand their usage of consumer data without the affirmative consent … Continue Reading

Facebook Accedes to the FTC’s Poke, Settles FTC’s Charges

Facebook recently agreed to settle charges by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) that Facebook violated the FTC Act. The FTC-Facebook settlement, which is still subject to final FTC approval, prohibits Facebook from making misrepresentations about the privacy or security of its users' personal information, requires Facebook to obtain users' affirmative consent before enacting changes that override the users' privacy preferences, and requires Facebook to prevent anyone from accessing material posted by a user more than 30 days after such user deleted his or her account. Similar to the March 2011 FTC-Google settlement, the Facebook settlement requires that Facebook enact a comprehensive privacy program and not misrepresent its compliance with the US-EU Safe Harbor Principles. As we previously reported, these two requirements are relatively new FTC settlement terms, which were first used in March 2011. … Continue Reading

The FTC Has Your Back, Even When It’s Naked: FTC Orders P2P Program’s Default File Sharing Settings Changed

FrostWire LLC (a P2P file-sharing software company) agreed to change the default privacy settings on its mobile and desktop applications and agreed to clearly disclose its applications' content sharing options pursuant to a settlement agreement with the FTC which resulted from claims by the FTC that FrostWire's content sharing practices violated the FTC Act. … Continue Reading

FTC Fines First Mobile App Developer for COPPA Violation

On Monday, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) announced that mobile application developer W3 Innovations, LLC (d/b/a Broken Thumbs Apps), has agreed to pay a fine of $50,000 in order to settle charges that it collected and disclosed personal information from children under the age of 13 without first notifying parents of information-collection policies or obtaining verifiable … Continue Reading

FTC-Google Settlement Marks Two “Firsts” in FTC Privacy Enforcement

Google recently settled charges by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) that Google's social networking service, Buzz, violated the FTC Act. The FTC-Google settlement prohibits Google from misrepresenting the extent to which it maintains and protects the confidentiality of users' information and from misrepresenting its compliance with the US-EU Safe Harbor Framework. In that regard, the settlement represents two important "firsts" in FTC enforcement. … Continue Reading

Credit Report Resellers Settle FTC Charges Over Poor Security

The Federal Trade Commission recently announced that it reached a settlement with three consumer credit report resellers whose information security practices and procedures were not sufficient to prevent hackers to obtain more than 1,800 consumer credit reports without authorization. The settlement resolves allegations that the resellers violated the Fair Credit Reporting Act, the FTC Act and … Continue Reading

Twitter’s Settlement With the FTC Demonstrates that “Reasonable Security” Isn’t Only About Online Commerce

The social networking and micro-blogging service Twitter recently agreed to settle charges with the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) regarding its privacy and data security practices. Similar to settlement terms reached with other online merchants, the settlement bars Twitter for 20 years from misleading consumers about the extent to which it protects the security, privacy, and confidentiality of nonpublic consumer information. Notably, the agreement also requires Twitter to maintain a comprehensive information security program and submit to audits of the program for 10 years. The settlement agreement does not include a monetary penalty. The FTC alleged that despite Twitter's promises on its website to protect the personal information of its users, Twitter's practices failed to provide reasonable and appropriate security. Unlike many of the other companies that the FTC has pursued regarding online security practices, Twitter does not sell goods online or collect financial information from its users. … Continue Reading
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