Last week, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and the District Attorneys of Los Angeles County and Riverside County agreed to an order to settle claims against Frontier Communications Intermediate, LLC and its parent company, Frontier Communications Parent, Inc. (collectively, Frontier). The plaintiffs alleged that Frontier promised internet speeds that Frontier did not deliver. The order, approved by all Commissioners, contains far-reaching and, in some cases, novel relief, including an $8.5 million penalty, a requirement for customer-by-customer substantiation, an absolute prohibition on signing up of certain new customers, and a mandated $50-60 million investment in new technology.
Continue Reading FTC Takes Aggressive Action Against Internet Service Provider for Misrepresenting Internet Speeds

As a fintech company, platform offering payment services, or a cryptocurrency business, you may be used to operating in uncharted waters; the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), however, is ready to start drawing some maps. It has announced that it will begin to exercise its supervisory authority over non-bank consumer financial entities that the CFPB has reason to believe pose risks to consumers. It also announced a new procedural rule to govern when CFPB decisions related to these supervisory actions will be made available to the public.
Continue Reading CFPB and Fintech Companies: Charting a New Course on Regulatory Supervision

In anticipation of its new powers to regulate the largest digital platforms, the EU is planning to open a San Francisco base to engage with these companies, which are based mostly in Silicon Valley and the broader Bay Area. The EU’s plans to open its first representative office on Californian soil reflects the EU’s intent to remain at the forefront of digital regulation initiatives worldwide.
Continue Reading EU to Open San Francisco Office to Advance Its Digital Regulation Agenda

On April 12, 2022, the U.S. Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) filed a lawsuit against TransUnion, two of its subsidiaries, and former TransUnion executive John Danaher in his individual capacity for violating an enforcement order. That order, from January 2017, was part of a settlement in which TransUnion agreed to pay $16.9 million in restitution and civil penalties for deceptively marketing credit scores and credit-related products, such as credit monitoring services.
Continue Reading Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Alleges Dark Patterns in Advertising of Financial Products; Files Suit Against TransUnion and Senior Executive for Violating Order

On April 19, 2022, the BBB National Programs’ Center (BBB NP) for Industry Self-Regulation launched the TeenAge Privacy Program (TAPP) Roadmap, a new operational framework to help companies develop digital products and services attuned to privacy risks facing teenage consumers. In the United States, children 12 and under are protected by the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA). Once these children become teenagers, they age out of COPPA’s protections and, with limited exceptions, are treated as adults online. Yet a growing body of research indicates that these teenage consumers are uniquely affected by privacy risks resulting in harms ranging from cyberbullying, to platform addiction, to amplified insecurities.1 Regulators are increasingly interested in investigating these harms. For instance, in a widely publicized incident, a coalition of state Attorneys General recently opened an investigation into Instagram following news reports of a whistleblower’s allegations that Facebook’s privacy practices harmed teenage users. Despite increased public and regulatory scrutiny, no federal law has been enacted to provide companies with guidance on these issues. While it is not legally binding, the TAPP Roadmap aims to help fill this guidance gap by providing organizations with concrete operational considerations and best practices to address teen privacy risks.
Continue Reading BBB National Programs’ Center for Industry Self-Regulation Launches Roadmap for Teen Privacy

The EU is close to finalizing the adoption of the Digital Services Act (DSA), which will impose new obligations on digital platforms regarding content moderation, due diligence for illegal content, and advertising transparency. It will entail significant changes to existing EU law in these areas and will impose substantial new compliance burdens on companies in regard to online content.
Continue Reading EU Reaches Political Agreement on Additional New Rules for Digital Platforms in the Digital Services Act