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California Actively Enforcing its Delete Act against Data Brokers
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March 10, 2025
California Actively Enforcing its Delete Act against Data Brokers
By: Nicole Kardell
If you are a data broker and you are not registered in California, you may face sanctions, including fines and possible shut down of operations. The California Privacy Protection Agency is actively enforcing the state’s Delete Act, legislation that was enacted in 2023. The Delete Act requires entities that qualify as data brokers under the law to register annually with the CPPA and pay the associated fee. In October 2024, the CPPA announced that it would start a sweep to investigate and penalize data brokers that failed to comply. Making good on its promise, the agency recently released a statement that it settled with a data broker, Background Alert, Inc., for failing to register. The settlement requires the company to…
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FTC Cracking Down On Online Censorship
February 27, 2025
FTC Cracking Down On Online Censorship
By: Steven Eichorn
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has recently launched a public outreach effort to obtain information from the public regarding how they are treated by technology platforms. As explained by the FTC, they are seeking to “understand how technology platforms deny or degrade users’ access to services based on the content of their speech or affiliation, and how this conduct may have violated the law.” This…
Pause Play? CFPB Gaming-Related Rules on Hold
February 12, 2025
Pause Play? CFPB Gaming-Related Rules on Hold
By: Michelle Cohen
Newly installed Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (“CFPB”) Director Russell Vought directed agency staff to stop work on agency matters and stay home. The future of many of the CFPB-led initiatives looks bleak, including a recent interpretive rule proposal that would treat video game publishers like payment processors. Background Congress created the CFPB, an independent federal agency, in 2011 in response to the financial crisis of…
FTC Clamps Down on EU Safe Harbor Compliance: If Your Company Says It Is Certified, Keep Your Certification Current
January 22, 2014
FTC Clamps Down on EU Safe Harbor Compliance: If Your Company Says It Is Certified, Keep Your Certification Current
By: Michelle Cohen
Once again using its administrative litigation process, the Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”) announced settlements with twelve large businesses, including the Atlanta Falcons and Denver Broncos football teams, the Baker Tilly accounting firm, BitTorrent, Inc., a peer-to-peer file sharing protocol, Level 3 Communications (one of the largest Internet service providers in the world), and Reynolds Consumer Products, all relating to alleged deceptive claims of U.S.-E.U Safe harbor…
Investigating For-Profit Edu: Are Government Agents Going To Start Tripping Over Each Other?
January 21, 2014
Investigating For-Profit Edu: Are Government Agents Going To Start Tripping Over Each Other?
By: Nicole Kardell
Things look a bit bleak for the for-profit education industry: it seems like every other day a new federal or state agency is launching an investigation or proposing new regulations. The latest news is that a coalition of 32 state attorneys general, along with the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, is expanding a probe into lending practices at for-profit colleges. This news follows pronouncements by the…
Industry, Members of Congress Take Action on FTC Process
January 9, 2014
Industry, Members of Congress Take Action on FTC Process
By: Michelle Cohen
As the Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”) continues to flex its consumer protection muscles by bringing numerous administrative lawsuits, industry and members of Congress are questioning whether there is a level playing field that allows companies to properly defend themselves against FTC charges. Or, as some say, does the FTC have the “home court advantage” in its role as investigator and prosecutor, armed with very broad…
New Year Brings New Plans by the FTC to Take Down Deceptive Weight Loss Advertisers
January 8, 2014
New Year Brings New Plans by the FTC to Take Down Deceptive Weight Loss Advertisers
By: Ifrah Law
New year, new resolutions. Yesterday, the FTC announced a resolution of its own: to undertake a nationwide enforcement effort to protect consumers against deceptive weight loss claims. Dubbed “Operation Failed Resolution,” the FTC’s latest enforcement effort seeks to protect consumers who face a barrage of “opportunistic marketers” promising quick ways to shed pounds. According to the FTC, these marketing tactics cause millions of dollars of…
Botnet ZeroAccess Hit With Complaint by Microsoft, but Will This Slow the Malware Industry Down?
December 19, 2013
Botnet ZeroAccess Hit With Complaint by Microsoft, but Will This Slow the Malware Industry Down?
By: Ifrah Law
ZeroAccess is one of the world’s largest botnets – a network of computers infected with malware to trigger online fraud. Recently, after having eluded investigators for months, ZeroAccess was disrupted by Microsoft and law enforcement agencies. Earlier this month, armed with a court order and law enforcement help overseas, Microsoft took steps to cut off communication links to the European-based servers considered the mega-brain for…
