Federal Trade Commission (FTC)

On November 4, the Federal Trade Commission announced an unprecedented coordinated federal-state enforcement effort targeting deceptive and abusive debt collection. This sweeping initiative, termed “Operation Collection Protection,” coordinates federal, state, and local actions under the FTC, the CFPB, 47 state attorneys general, and other enforcement officers and agencies.

As the top source of complaints to the FTC and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, illegal debt collection practices have long been in the agencies’ crosshairs. “Operation Collection Protection” began with 30 new coordinated law enforcement actions targeting debt collectors using illegal methods such as harassing phone calls and false threats of litigation, arrest, and wage garnishment. With the involvement of state attorneys general and variations on state laws, banks and other creditors should have the new initiative on their radars as well.

Although the FTC does not have jurisdiction over banks, they should pay close attention to the initiative because of the involvement of the CFPB and state attorneys general, and variations on state laws under which attorneys general may investigate banks and other financial institutions.Continue Reading FTC, CFPB, and States Collaborate to Clamp Down on Illegal Debt Collection

This post was written by John P. Feldman and Jonathan R. Davey.

Following Commissioner Ohlhausen’s opening presentation, Stanford Professor Liran Einav introduced the first morning panel. It was moderated by Nathan Wilson, Economist for the FTC’s Bureau of Economics.  Panelists beyond Prof. Einav were Chiara Farronato, professor at Harvard Business School; Joshua Gans, University of

This post was written by John Feldman, Keri Bruce and Sara Shahmiri.

After the FTC revised its Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials (the “Guides”) in 2009, it followed up with a set of frequently asked questions entitled “What People Are Asking” (the “FAQs”) to address questions that were on advertisers’ minds.  More

In the latest iteration of the Federal Trade Commission’s (FTC) approach to testimonials and endorsements in the context of online advertising, the Commission alleged that AmeriFreight, a company that arranges the shipment of consumers’ cars through third-party freight carriers and its owner posted customer reviews without disclosing that it had provided a financial incentive for

On January 30, a three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit upheld claims of false advertising by POM Wonderful LLC (“POM Wonderful”), finding that the government could prohibit the pomegranate juice company from advertising its products as being effective in fighting heart disease, prostate cancer and erectile dysfunction.  

On Tuesday, January 27, the FTC issued a 71-page Staff Report on the privacy and security issues with the Internet of Things.  As we’ve noted in our previous blog posts, the Internet of Things (“IoT”) refers to the growing ability of everyday devices to monitor and communicate information through the Internet.  This FTC Staff

On May 15, 2014, Maneesha Mithal, Associate Director of the Division of Privacy and Identity Protection at the Federal Trade Commission (“FTC” or “Commission”) testified, on behalf of the FTC, before the U.S. Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs addressing the Commission’s work regarding three consumer protection issues affecting online advertising: (1) privacy, (2) malware and (3) data security. Below is a summary of the Commission’s testimony regarding these three key areas and the Commission’s advice for additional steps to protect consumers.
Continue Reading Online Advertising Targeted by Federal Trade Commission