Federal Trade Commission News

Adobe Sued by U.S. Regulators Over Subscription Cancellations

The US Federal Trade Commission sued Adobe Inc., alleging the software company violated consumer protection laws by making it too difficult for consumers to cancel their subscriptions. Adobe pushed users toward annual subscriptions to its creative software such as Photoshop …

Williams-Sonoma to Pay $3.2M for Violating FTC’s ‘Made in USA’ Order

Home products retailer Williams-Sonoma will have to pay almost $3.2 million for violating a Federal Trade Commission “Made in USA” order. Williams-Sonoma was charged with advertising multiple products as being “Made in USA” when they were in fact manufactured in …

FTC Sends $5.6M to Ring Customers as Part of Privacy Settlement

The Federal Trade Commission is sending more than $5.6 million in refunds to consumers as part of a settlement with Amazon-owned Ring, which was charged with failing to protect private video footage from outside access. In a 2023 complaint, the …

Federal Trade Commission Reports Nationwide Fraud Losses Topped $10B in 2023

Consumers reported losing more than $10 billion to fraud in 2023, marking the first time that fraud losses have reached that benchmark, and a 14% increase over reported losses in 2022, Newly released Federal Trade Commission data shows. Consumers reported …

FTC Fines Experian Unit for Spamming Consumers

A unit of the Experia credit reporting bureau agreed to pay a $650,000 civil fine to settle U.S. Federal Trade Commission charges it spammed consumers with marketing emails without giving them a way to opt out. The FTC said ConsumerInfo.com, …

Viewpoint: AI Investigations and Claims Gather Pace in the United States

Generative AI tools such as ChatGPT have been in the headlines since 2022, with many users (including children) using the tools to generate content with little thought as to the data protection risks associated with its use. Last month, we …

Amazon to Pay $31 Million in Privacy Violation Penalties for Alexa Voice Assistant and Ring Camera

WASHINGTON (AP) – Amazon agreed Wednesday to pay a $25 million civil penalty to settle Federal Trade Commission allegations it violated a child privacy law and deceived parents by keeping for years kids’ voice and location data recorded by its …

Twitter Leak Exposes 235 Million Email Addresses from Hack

Personal emails linked to 235 million Twitter accounts hacked some time ago have been exposed according to Israeli security researcher Alon Gal _ making millions vulnerable to having their accounts compromised or identities exposed if they have used the site …

Walmart Seeks to Dismiss Lawsuit by FTC over Money Transfers

NEW YORK (AP) — Walmart filed a motion on Monday to dismiss a Federal Trade Commission lawsuit that accuses the nation’s largest retailer of allowing its money-transfer services to be used by scam artists. The motion calls the FTC’s June …

FTC Looking at Rules to Corral Tech Firms’ Data Collection

WASHINGTON (AP) — Whether it’s the fitness tracker on your wrist, the “smart” home appliances in your house or the latest kids’ fad going viral in online videos, they all produce a trove of personal data for big tech companies. …