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FTC Approves Final Amendments to Energy Labeling Rule for Portable ACs

January 11, 2021

On December 22, 2020, the Federal Trade Commission’s (FTC) announced adoption of a final rule requiring the use of the EnergyGuide labels on portable air conditioners (ACs). Effective October 1, 2022, portable AC manufacturers must attach yellow EnergyGuide labels on the principal display panel of their packaging and include an image of the required label on websites and catalogs advertising the product. The FTC initially proposed that the labeling requirement would go into effect on…

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Data Analytics Company Settles with FTC Over Alleged Data Security Violations

By Sheila Millar & Tracy Marshall

January 6, 2021

Third-party service providers are vital to many companies and they handle a wide range of business activities essential for companies to deliver their own offerings. But a company is not adequately protecting consumers if it fails to perform proper due diligence on service providers and contractually require them to employ appropriate security measures to protect sensitive personal information, as Ascension Data & Analytics, LLC (Ascension) discovered. Ascension, a data analytics company serving the mortgage industry,…

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FTC Imposes Record $1.2 Million Penalty for a “Made in USA” Case

By Sheila Millar & JC Walker

January 4, 2021

For the second time since 2016, glue producer Chemence, Inc. (Chemence) has found itself adverse to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) for making allegedly deceptive claims that its products are American made. And this time it cost them $1.2 million – the highest settlement amount ever paid in a “Made in USA” case. In 2016, the FTC charged Chemence, among several other glue manufacturers,[1] with making unqualified, deceptive country-of-origin claims about their cyanoacrylate superglue…

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FTC Finalizes Settlement with Sunday Riley Skincare Over Alleged Fake Reviews

By Sheila Millar & Tracy Marshall

December 3, 2020

Online opinions – and not just from celebrities – are big business. Consumer reviews can be highly influential in convincing other shoppers to buy a product. In fact, the founder and CEO of Sunday Riley Modern Skincare LLC (Sunday Riley Skincare) was so convinced about the power of those starred reviews on cosmetics chain Sephora’s website that she allegedly asked her employees to make up a few to boost the company’s ratings. The result? A…

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FTC Finalizes Settlement with Service Provider over Alleged Privacy Shield Misrepresentations

By Sheila Millar & Tracy Marshall

December 1, 2020

The EU-U.S. Privacy Shield Framework, which provided a mechanism to legally transfer personal information from the EU to the United States, was invalidated on July 16, 2020, but the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has made it clear that companies that claimed to be participants must still make good on their word. A case in point is the FTC’s recent settlement with NTT Global Data Centers Americas, Inc. (NTT) over charges that the company misrepresented its…

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FTC Targets Negative Option Schemes in Two Multimillion Dollar Settlements

By Sheila Millar & Tracy Marshall

September 28, 2020

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) recently announced settlements with two online companies for allegedly misleading customers about automatic membership renewal costs. On September 2, 2020, the FTC announced that Age of Learning, Inc., d/b/a ABCmouse, will pay $10 million to settle charges that the company enrolled thousands of consumers in a negative option scheme to which they did not consent, and also misrepresented its cancellation process. Fewer than three weeks later, on September 22, the…

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Interested in Environmental Marketing?

By Sheila Millar

September 8, 2020

Interested in environmental marketing? Do you make and sell plastic products? Partner Sheila Millar and Counsel Boaz Green discuss a bill likely to become law in California that further restricts environmental marketing claims for plastic products sold in California. AB 2287 would expand restrictions on plastic degradability claims by effectively banning marine degradable claims. Read the full article.…

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FTC Staff Perspective Paper Offers Key Takeaways on Loot Box Workshop

By Sheila Millar & Tracy Marshall

August 20, 2020

More than 160 million Americans play video games. Originally designed as single-use purchases for consoles or computers, video games are now downloadable, making them more accessible to consumers than ever. One important development for the video game industry has been the creation of “micro purchases” – in-game transactions such as “loot boxes” that players can either buy for a small fee or win through playing. Micro purchases have become a multibillion-dollar market and make up…

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FTC Targets False Energy Performance Claims

By Sheila Millar & JC Walker

August 13, 2020

Marketing products as environmentally friendly can induce customers to pay higher prices than they would for other goods. But when promises of lower emissions or higher insultation ratings prove false, that hurts consumers, and the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) steps in. The FTC recently concluded its four-year long false advertising case against Volkswagen and Porsche – the biggest in FTC history – for making deceptive claims about the air emissions levels of their vehicles when…

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Washington State AG Settles with Online Platform Over Alleged COPPA Violations

By Sheila Millar & Tracy Marshall

July 27, 2020

Protecting the online privacy of children by enforcing the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) continues to be of paramount importance to federal and state regulators. In addition to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), several state attorneys general (AGs) have brought COPPA actions recently, including the New Mexico and California AGs, and, most notably, the New York AG, who in 2019 worked in concert with the FTC to obtain a record civil penalty against YouTube…

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FTC Approves Final Amendments to Energy Labeling Rule for Portable ACs

Data Analytics Company Settles with FTC Over Alleged Data Security Violations

FTC Imposes Record $1.2 Million Penalty for a “Made in USA” Case

FTC Finalizes Settlement with Sunday Riley Skincare Over Alleged Fake Reviews

FTC Finalizes Settlement with Service Provider over Alleged Privacy Shield Misrepresentations

FTC Targets Negative Option Schemes in Two Multimillion Dollar Settlements

Interested in Environmental Marketing?

FTC Staff Perspective Paper Offers Key Takeaways on Loot Box Workshop

FTC Targets False Energy Performance Claims

Washington State AG Settles with Online Platform Over Alleged COPPA Violations

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