FTC
Disney to pay $10M to settle claims it collected kids’ data on YouTube
Disney will pay $10 million to settle claims by the U.S. Federal Trade Commission that it mislabeled videos for children on YouTube, which allowed the collection of kids’ personal information without their consent or notification to their parents. This occurred after the entertainment giant failed to tag kid-directed videos on YouTube as “Made for Kids” […]
FTC warns tech giants not to bow to foreign pressure on encryption
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is warning major U.S. tech companies against yielding to foreign government demands that weaken data security, compromise encryption, or impose censorship on their platforms. FTC Chairman Andrew N. Ferguson signed the letter sent to large American companies like Akamai, Alphabet (Google), Amazon, Apple, Cloudflare, Discord, GoDaddy, Meta, Microsoft, Signal, Snap, Slack, and […]
FTC: older adults lost record $700 million to scammers in 2024
Americans aged 60 and older lost a staggering $700 million to online scams in 2024, marking a sharp rise in fraud targeting seniors, according to the Federal Trade Commission. This figure, presented in the agency’s latest Consumer Protection Data Spotlight, represents an increase over all three categories of loss compared to previous years. Most notably, the […]
FTC approves $126 million in Fortnite refunds over ‘dark patterns’
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has approved $126,000,000 in refunds to be sent to 969,173 Fortnite players as part of a settlement over allegations that Epic Games tricked users into making unwanted purchases. At the same time, the agency has reopened the claims portal for eligible Fortnite players to submit refund claims, which will be examined […]
Paddle settles for $5 million over facilitating tech support scams
Paddle.com and its U.S. subsidiary will pay $5 million to settle Federal Trade Commission (FTC) allegations that the company facilitated deceptive tech-support schemes that harmed many U.S. consumers, including older adults. Paddle, a UK-based payment processor, offers payments, tax handling, compliance, and checkout infrastructure for software and digital product sellers by acting as a “merchant […]
FTC finalizes order requiring GoDaddy to secure hosting services
The U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has finalized an order requiring web hosting giant GoDaddy to secure its services to settle charges of data security failures that led to several data breaches since 2018. In January, the agency also alleged that GoDaddy, a major website hosting company with roughly five million customers, misled users about its security […]
Click Profit blocked by the FTC over alleged e-commerce scams
The US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has taken action against the “Click Profit” business opportunity platform for allegedly earning $14 million while deceiving consumers with false promises of guaranteed passive income through online stores. Click Profit is an online business paltform promoted on social media and through websites that claims to help consumers generate passive income […]
US govt says Americans lost record $12.5 billion to fraud in 2024
The U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) said today that Americans lost a record $12.5 billion to fraud last year, a 25% increase over the previous year. Consumers reported that investment scams resulted in the highest losses, totaling around $5.7 billion with a median loss of over $9,000 and exceeding all other fraud categories. The second […]
FTC will send $25.5 million to victims of tech support scams
Later this week, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) will start distributing over $25.5 million in refunds to those misled by tech support companies Restoro and Reimage’s scare tactics. The FTC will send 736,375 PayPal payments starting March 13 to consumers tricked into paying for unnecessary computer repair services. Between now and March 13, those eligible […]
FTC orders GM to stop collecting and selling driver’s data
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is taking action against General Motors (GM) and its subsidiary, OnStar, for unlawful collection and selling drivers’ precise geolocation and driving behavior data from millions of vehicles. The U.S. government organization proposes a settlement in which the automotive giant will be barred from sharing drivers’ sensitive data for five years. The car […]