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The Federal Trade Commission recently released its preliminary report on two studies it conducted to help understand the effectiveness of class action settlement notices and to “develop information to help improve settlement outcomes for consumers.”  The report shows that claims rates, regardless of the form of notice, are very low and that some of the…

The CFPB announced that it will host a public workshop with the FTC on December 10, 2019 to discuss issues affecting the accuracy of both traditional credit reports and employment and tenant background screening reports.

According to the announcement, the workshop “seeks to bring together stakeholders – including industry representatives, consumer advocates, and regulators –…

The FTC announced settlements of two lawsuits filed in a California federal district court alleging similar violations of the FTC Act, the Telemarketing Sales Rule (TSR), and the Truth in Lending Act by providers of student debt relief services, their principals, and a Minnesota-based company that provided financing to customers of the providers involved in…

Two recent Circuit Court opinions have significantly undermined the FTC’s powers under Section 13(b) of the Federal Trade Commission Act (FTCA).  These pivotal decisions may ultimately require the U.S. Supreme Court to clarify Section 13(b)’s boundaries.

First, in FTC v. Shire Viropharma, Inc., the Third Circuit Court of Appeals held that in order to…

Just two days after the Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”) announced a historic settlement of privacy and security claims against Equifax, the FTC today announced that Facebook has agreed to pay $5 billion in civil fines, arising from its violation of a 2012 consent order with the FTC.  According to the FTC, this is the largest…

Equifax has agreed to pay $575 million to settle consumer as well as state and federal regulatory claims for its 2017 data breach. This is the largest data breach settlement to date.

2017 Data Breach

At the federal level, the FTC and CFPB both filed complaints against Equifax. The FTC complaint alleges Equifax was aware…

The Consumer Education Foundation, a California-based nonprofit consumer advocacy organization, has filed a petition with the FTC asking it to investigate the use of “secret surveillance scores” in the U.S. marketplace.

Such scores are claimed to be the product of analytics companies that “amass thousands or even tens of thousands of demographic and lifestyle data…

The FTC has issued a final rule to implement a 2018 amendment to the FCRA made by the Economic Growth, Regulatory Relief, and Consumer Protection Act that requires nationwide consumer reporting agencies  (CRAs) to provide free electronic credit monitoring service for active duty military consumers.  The rule will be effective 30 days after its publication…

The Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”) recently rescinded several Model Forms and Disclosures associated with the Fair Credit Reporting Act (“FCRA”), determining they are no longer necessary, given that the CFPB has issued its own model forms and disclosures.  The FTC forms that have been rescinded and the corresponding CFPB forms that now apply are as…

The Federal Trade Commission recently provided its annual letter to the CFPB concerning its enforcement activities relating to compliance with Regulation Z (Truth in Lending Act), Regulation M (Consumer Leasing Act), and Regulation E (Electronic Fund Transfer Act).  Under Dodd-Frank, the FTC retained its authority to enforce these regulations with respect to entities subject to…