The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) announced on Tuesday it will be taking action against the online cash app and neobank Dave, which it says used “misleading marketing to deceive consumers.” At issue is how Dave marketed $500 cash advances to consumers that it rarely offered, and the “Express Fee” it charged if customers wanted their […]
The FTC comes after neobank Dave for misleading marketing, hidden fees Read More »
Lyft has agreed to a $2.1 million settlement proposed by the FTC over the car-hailing company’s “deceptive earnings claims about how much money drivers could expect to make.” As documented in the FTC’s complaint document, Lyft systematically inflated the incomes it advertised to drivers it was attempting to recruit in 2021 and 2022. For instance,
FTC hits Lyft with $2.1M penalty for luring drivers with false earnings claims Read More »
Soon, it’ll be easier to end recurring subscriptions and memberships — if the FTC has its way. Today, the U.S. Federal Trade Commission announced a final “click-to-cancel” rule that’ll require companies selling subscription-based products to make it “as easy for consumers to cancel their enrollment as it was to sign up.” First put forth for
A new FTC report on how social media and streaming sites collect and monetize their hoards of user data doesn’t really feature a lot of surprises for anyone who’s followed the space. It’s more helpful to consider this part of a paper trail the agency is laying down in order to justify new regulations in
FTC report on predatory social media data hoarding hints at future regulations Read More »
A group of Democratic senators is urging the FTC and Justice Department to investigate whether AI tools that summarize and regurgitate online content like news and recipes may amount to anti-competitive practices. In a letter to the agencies, Senators led by Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) explained their position that the latest AI features are hitting creators
Senate leaders ask FTC to investigate AI content summaries as anti-competitive Read More »
The U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is requiring Care.com, a platform for gig workers in the elder-care and childcare space, to pay $8.5 million in refunds for deceiving caregivers who were looking for jobs, and making it difficult for families to cancel their paid memberships. The agency said on Monday that the company’s marketing messages
Care.com to pay customers $8.5M in FTC settlement for deceiving caregivers, families Read More »
The U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) announced on Wednesday a final rule that will tackle several types of fake reviews and prohibit marketers from using deceptive practices, such as AI-generated reviews, censoring honest negative reviews, and compensating third parties for positive reviews. The decision was the result of a 5-to-0 vote. The new rule will
FTC finalizes rule banning fake reviews, including those made with AI Read More »
The U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and the Justice Department are suing TikTok and ByteDance, TikTok’s parent company, with violating the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA), a law that requires digital platforms to notify and obtain parents’ consent before collecting and using personal data from children under the age of 13. In a press
FTC and Justice Department sue TikTok over alleged child privacy violations Read More »
The Federal Trade Commission announced on Tuesday that it’s ordering eight companies that offer AI-powered “surveillance service pricing” to turn over information about the potential impact these products have on privacy, competition and consumer protection. With this investigation, the agency is seeking to learn more about how artificial intelligence and other technologies are being used
FTC is investigating how companies are using AI to base pricing on consumer behavior Read More »
The U.S. Federal Trade Commission, along with two other international consumer protection networks, announced on Thursday the results of a study into the use of “dark patterns” — or manipulative design techniques — that can put users’ privacy at risk or push them to buy products or services or take other actions they otherwise wouldn’t
FTC study finds ‘dark patterns’ used by a majority of subscription apps and websites Read More »
