MilConsumer Blog Feed

We usually wait until the end of a Business Blog post before offering a compliance pointer or two. But this time let’s lead off with two lessons that companies can learn from the FTC’s record-setting $3.17 million settlement with home and kitchenware company Williams-Sonoma. First, don’t make deceptive Made in USA claims. Second, once you sign an FTC order settling charges that you falsely advertised foreign-made items as Made in USA, don’t make those same misrepresentations again.

It's a recurring trope in caper movies. An unsuspecting person exits an airplane, sees a driver with their name on a sign, and thinks they’re getting transportation to their destination. Of course, the “driver” is really in on the scheme and takes them somewhere without their permission. According to an FTC complaint, bill payment company Doxo has engaged in analogous conduct when consumers searched online for how to pay bills they owed to certain companies. The complaint – which names Doxo, CEO and co-founder Steve Shivers, and Vice President and co-founder Roger Parks – says the defendants use deceptive tactics to trick people into thinking they are in contact with the company in question and then tack millions in junk fees onto consumers’ bills.

It was Shakespeare who said, “Once more unto the breach.” The FTC’s goal is never more unto the breach, but until companies keep health data secure and private, we’ll continue to update and enforce the Health Breach Notification Rule to protect consumers and keep up with the digital revolution in health information. Benefited by insights from researchers, industry members, legislators, and consumers who responded to our call for public comments, the FTC just finished a head-to-toe HBNR check-up. The just-announced Final Rule makes it clear that health apps and similar technologies are covered and expands what covered entities must tell consumers if there’s been a breach of their data. How will the new rule affect your business?

The FTC’s Tech Summit on AI 1 convened three panels that highlighted different layers of the AI tech stack: hardware and infrastructure, data and models, and consumer-facing applications. This third Quote Book is focused on consumer-facing applications. This post outlines the purpose of the quote book, a summary of the panel, and relevant topics and actions raised by the FTC. Purpose of the quote book A key component of the FTC’s work is to...

The FTC’s Tech Summit on AI [1] convened three panels that each highlighted different layers of the AI tech stack: hardware and infrastructure, data and models, and front-end user applications. This second Quote Book is focused on data and models . This post outlines the intended purpose of the quote book, a summary of the panel, and relevant topics and actions raised by the FTC. Purpose of the quote book A key component of the FTC’s AI work is...

For more than two decades, the FTC has been bringing enforcement actions for violations of national consumer protection laws due to companies’ poor security practices. These poor practices have included failure to encrypt sensitive data, storing credentials in source code, failing to test for common vulnerabilities, and failure to use multi-factor authentication, among others. To remedy these practices, the orders the FTC has obtained in these...

What will it take to get businesses to honor the promises they make about the privacy of consumers’ health data? Multiple FTC law enforcement actions in the past year? Two more cases against companies that shared health information with third-party advertising platforms without people’s consent? Here’s the loud-and-clear message companies need to hear: The FTC won’t back down in the fight to protect the privacy of consumers’ sensitive health data.

We like to think the FTC Business Blog offers an occasional notable quote – or quotable note – on the issues businesses and consumers are talking about. Right now no topic is more top-of-mind than artificial intelligence. That’s why we’re pleased that Aspen Digital has named a Business Blog post by FTC attorney Mike Atleson to its first Reporting on AI Hall of Fame.

Today, the FTC announced four winners of the Voice Cloning Challenge, which was launched to address the present and emerging harms of artificial intelligence, or “AI”-enabled voice cloning technologies. The FTC received submissions from a wide range of individuals, teams, and organizations. The winners are outlined in the press release and on the Challenge website . The agency called for ideas that can be implemented during at least one of the...

Voice cloning: A boon for people with medical issues or an AI-enabled bonanza for scammers? The answer depends on who’s using the technology and how they’re using it. That’s why the FTC is taking a 360° approach in the battle against the misuse of voice cloning. One part of that comprehensive strategy is the FTC Voice Cloning Challenge announced in November – and we’re excited to reveal the winners.