On September 5, 2017, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) announced that it and 32 state attorneys general had settled charges with Lenovo regarding the company’s practice of pre-loading software on its laptops that compromised consumers’ cybersecurity and privacy. As part of the settlement, Lenovo agreed to pay $3.5 million in penalties to the states, and per an … Continue Reading
On June 22, 2016, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) announced that it has settled charges that InMobi, a Singapore-based mobile advertising company, deceptively tracked the locations of hundreds of millions of consumers, including children, to deliver geo-targeted advertising, and violated both the FTC Act and the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA). This is the … Continue Reading
On February 23, 2016, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) announced a settlement with computer hardware maker ASUSTeK Computer, Inc. (ASUS). The ASUS settlement highlights the FTC’s position regarding security in the connected device market: connected device manufacturers are responsible for security shortcomings in their devices and are expected to promptly update or patch any identified … Continue Reading
In late 2015, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) announced three settlements in which the agency will collect over $5 million in collective penalties for alleged non-compliance with the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA). In addition to the monetary penalties, each of the settlements requires compliance with a … Continue Reading
On December 17, 2015, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) announced its first Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) enforcement actions challenging the use of persistent identifiers to engage in targeted advertising to children. The FTC alleges that two app developers—LAI Systems, LLC (LAI) and Retro Dreamer and its principals (Retro Dreamer)—allowed third-party advertising networks to … Continue Reading
On September 17, 2015, California Attorney General Kamala Harris announced a $33 million settlement with Comcast Corp. to resolve an investigation into Comcast’s publishing of phone numbers that consumers had paid the company not to publish.1 Notably, the settlement is the largest privacy settlement on record to date, surpassing the recent $25 million settlement the … Continue Reading
Making a splash with its first-ever data security enforcement actions, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) entered uncharted waters late last year by aggressively asserting its role in safeguarding consumer information. In the fall of 2014, for the first time, the FCC took administrative enforcement action in two instances against telecommunications carriers that misused data, misrepresented … Continue Reading
On October 22, 2013, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) announced a proposed settlement of a case against Aaron’s, Inc., a national rent-to-own retailer with more than 1,800 locations in 48 states, having alleged that Aaron’s knowingly played a direct and vital role in its franchisees’ installation and use of software on rental computers that secretly … Continue Reading
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) announced on December 5, 2013, that Goldenshores Technologies, LLC and its managing member, Erik M. Geidl, agreed to a proposed settlement over claims that Goldenshores, through its “Brightest Flashlight Free” mobile application, violated Section 5(a) of the FTC Act prohibiting unfair or deceptive acts and practices affecting commerce by failing … Continue Reading
