FTC
FTC to ban data broker Kochava from selling Americans’ location data
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) will ban data broker Kochava and its subsidiary Collective Data Solutions (CDS) from selling location data without consumers’ explicit consent to settle charges brought nearly four years ago. The FTC sued Idaho-based Kochava in August 2022, alleging it collected and sold precise geolocation data from hundreds of millions of mobile devices. […]
FTC: Americans lost over $2.1 billion to social media scams in 2025
The U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) warned of a massive increase in losses from social media scams since 2020, exceeding $2.1 billion in 2025. According to reports to the FTC’s Consumer Sentinel Network, all age groups (except those 80 and over, who were mainly targeted via phone calls) lost more money to scams originating on […]
FTC bans GM from selling drivers’ location data for five years
The U.S. Federal Trade Commission has finalized an order with General Motors (GM) and its subsidiary, OnStar, settling charges that they collected and sold the location and driving data of millions of drivers without consent. General Motors owns the GMC, Cadillac, Chevrolet, and Buick brands and produces over 6.1 million vehicles each year. OnStar, GM’s subsidiary, […]
Disney will pay $10 million to settle children’s data privacy lawsuit
Disney has agreed to pay a $10 million civil penalty to settle claims that it violated the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act by mislabeling videos and allowing data collection for targeted advertising. “The Justice Department is firmly devoted to ensuring parents have a say in how their children’s information is collected and used,” said Assistant Attorney […]
FTC: Instacart to refund $60M over deceptive subscription tactics
Grocery delivery service Instacart will refund $60 million to settle FTC claims that it misled customers with false advertising and unlawfully enrolled them in paid subscriptions. Instacart partners with over 1,800 retailers to provide online shopping, delivery, and pickup services from nearly 100,000 stores across North America. Its platform serves millions of customers and is […]
FTC settlement requires Illuminate to delete unnecessary student data
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is proposing that education technology provider Illuminate Education to delete unnecessary student data and improve its security to settle allegations related to an incident in 2021 that exposed info of 10 million students. The agency’s decision comes shortly after the states of California, Connecticut, and New York agreed to settle their legal […]
Sendit sued by the FTC for illegal collection of children data
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is suing Sendit’s operating company and its CEO for unlawful collection of data from underage users, as well as deceptive subscription practices. The FTC referred a legal complaint to the Department of Justice against Iconic Hearts Holdings Inc., the creator of Sendit, and its CEO, Hunter Rice. Sendit is an […]
Amazon pays $2.5 billion to settle Prime memberships lawsuit
Amazon will pay $2.5 billion to settle claims by the U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) that it used dark patterns to trick millions of users into enrolling in its Prime program and made it as difficult as possible to cancel the recurring subscriptions. The settlement requires Amazon to pay a $1 billion civil penalty and […]
U.S. Senator accuses Microsoft of “gross cybersecurity negligence”
U.S. Senator Ron Wyden has sent a letter to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) requesting the agency to investigate Microsoft for failing to provide adequate security in its products, which led to ransomware attacks against healthcare organizations. The Senator started the formal asking by saying that Microsoft should be held “responsible for its gross cybersecurity negligence, […]
US sues robot toy maker for exposing children’s data to Chinese devs
The U.S. Department of Justice has sued toy maker Apitor Technology for allegedly allowing a Chinese third party to collect children’s geolocation data without their knowledge and parental consent. A complaint filed by the Justice Department, following a notification from the Federal Trade Commission, alleges that Apitor violated the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Rule (COPPA) by failing to notify […]