Enforcement

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Just in time for the holidays, the FTC has released two companion settlements resolving allegations that Epic Games (maker of the popular video game Fortnite) violated the Children’s Online Protection Act (COPPA) and the FTC Act, with Epic to pay $520 million in penalties and consumer redress. The cases build on existing FTC law and precedent but add new dimensions that should interest a wide array of companies subject to FTC jurisdiction.    

Notably, the first case alleges COPPA violations (compromising the privacy and safety of users under 13) but adds allegations that Epic violated teens’ privacy and safety, too. And the second case alleges unauthorized in-app purchases – not just by kids, which was the focus of earlier FTC cases, but by users of all ages. Both cases rely on unfairness theories in extending their reach. Both incorporate the (now ever-present) concept of dark patterns (generally defined as practices that subvert or impair user choice). And both got a 4-0 Commission vote, with a strong concurrence from Republican Commissioner Wilson explaining her support for the FTC’s use of unfairness here. Neither case names any individuals.  

The privacy case

The FTC’s privacy case alleges that, for over two years following Fortnite’s launch in 2017, Epic allowed kids to register with no parental involvement, and for kids and teens to play the game with features enabling them to communicate in real time with anyone on the platform. According to the FTC, these practices subjected kids and teens to bullying, harassment, threats, and “toxic” content, including “predators blackmailing extorting, or coercing children and teens…into sharing explicit image or meeting offline for sexual activity.” Further, says the FTC, Epic knew about these problems, resisted fixing them and, when it finally took action, added controls that were hard to find and use, and failed to cure the violations.     …

Continue Reading Two Epic Cases from the FTC: Spotlight on COPPA, Unfairness, Teens, Dark Patterns, In-App Purchases, Cancellations, and More

At last week’s National Association of Attorneys General (NAAG) Capital Forum, consumer protection multistate investigations and enforcement actions were once again a subject of discussion. In a session specifically on the topic, NAAG Consumer Protection Committee Co-Chairs Generals Kwame Raoul of Illinois and Jonathan Skrmetti of Tennessee, as well as Susan Ellis and Jeff Hill, long time top consumer protection staff in their respective offices, spoke at length about the multistate process, responding to alleged misinformation about consumer protection multistates that has been reported through media and elsewhere.
Continue Reading State AGs Highlight Changes to NAAG and Multistate Enforcement for 2023

How To Protect Employee/HR Data and Comply with Data Privacy Laws
Wednesday, July 20

As workforces become increasingly mobile and remote work is more the norm, employers face the challenge of balancing the protection of their employees’ personal data and privacy against the need to collect and process personal data to recruit, support and monitor…

Making good on promises to creatively explore all of its options for enforcement, the FTC yesterday notified 70 for-profit higher educational institutions that it intends to use its long dormant Penalty Offense Authority to obtain civil penalties when institutions make misrepresentations about their programs and job and earnings prospects.  The move closely follows recommendations proposed…

Commissioners Cut Procedures, Rescind Policy, Empower Staff, Target Tech

With an unprecedented attack on policies the Federal Trade Commission had long embraced, the new majority of Democratic Commissioners revealed a bold enforcement agenda that would circumvent Supreme Court decisions and avoid Congressional limits.

It was a meeting like none the Federal Trade Commission has ever held. On one week’s notice, the Commission adopted new rules to impose civil penalties on substandard Made-in-USA claims, removed judges and safeguards from rulemaking proceedings, rescinded its 2015 enforcement policy statement on unfair methods of competition, and granted staff more authority to issue subpoenas and civil investigative demands. The vote on every issue followed party lines. Republican Commissioners, Noah Phillips and Christine Wilson, voted against all, and the Democratic Commissioners, Chopra, Khan, and Slaughter, rejected all amendments. Chair Khan announced that public meetings will become regular events at the FTC. …
Continue Reading Chopra, Khan, Slaughter Take Control of the Federal Trade Commission

TINA.org continues to aggressively beat the enforcement drum.  Today, its leaders sent a letter to Acting Director of the Bureau of Consumer Protection Samuel Levine encouraging the FTC “to implement a penalty offense program targeting the direct selling industry and its market-wide practice of utilizing deceptive earnings representations and false health claims.”

As we discussed…

The FTC today announced four new enforcement actions and one new settlement alleging deceptive income claims in violation of the FTC Act.  The FTC noted that these actions are part of a broader initiative branded as “Operation Income Illusion,” which it described as a crackdown “against the operators of work-from-home and employment scams, pyramid schemes,…

Find the replay of our webinar Cleaning Up From 2020: Guidance for Disinfectant, Germ and Virus Killing Claims here.

COVID-19 has brought a proliferation of products claiming to kill or otherwise inhibit viruses, bacteria and other germs. These products, before they can be legally sold, are heavily regulated by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency…

On July 22, the New York Department of Financial Services (DFS) announced the first enforcement action under its new Cybersecurity Regulation, which requires that businesses registered or licensed by DFS comply with a number of robust cybersecurity requirements. The action involves First American Title Insurance Company and, according to the Statement of Charges and Notice…

As we have previously advised, the Trump Administration is targeting the sale of counterfeit goods on e-commerce platforms. Early this year, the Department of Homeland Security issued its report to the White House on “Combating Trafficking in Counterfeit and Pirated Goods,” in response to which the White House entered its Executive Order aimed at blocking

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