FEDERAL TRADE COMMISSION

The Federal Trade Commission and 17 state attorneys general have filed an antitrust lawsuit against Amazon.

The Federal Trade Commission announced late last year that Epic Games would pay $520 million in penalties and refunds to settle complaints revolving around children’s privacy and its payment methods that tricked players into making unintended purchases.

The U.S. government says the former Twitter’s request to end oversight of its data privacy and security practices is “meritless” and owner Elon Musk should not be immune to testifying about the company since he has “first-hand knowledge” of the conduct being investigated.

Information theft is on the rise.

Children's advocacy groups including Fairplay and Common Sense Media are asking the Federal Trade Commission to investigate Google, saying the tech giant serves personalized ads to kids on YouTube despite federal law prohibiting the practice.

Social media is full of scammers promising guaranteed returns on investment, and consumers lost $3.8 billion to them last year just in the U.S., according to the Federal Trade Commission.

Business for scammers is booming.

The Federal Trade Commission is taking on illegal telemarketing calls and so-called consent farms with a joint task force involving more than 100 federal and state law enforcement partners, including the attorneys general from all 50 states and the District of Columbia.

Twitter wants a federal court to end an order imposed by the Federal Trade Commission that limits its data security practices.

The Federal Trade Commission says it is appealing a judge’s ruling that would have allowed Microsoft to close its deal to buy video game company Activision Blizzard.

The chair of the Federal Trade Commission has defended her aggressive legal strategy toward the country’s biggest technology companies as she appeared before the House Judiciary Committee.

A federal judge has handed Microsoft a major victory by declining to block its looming $69 billion takeover of video game company Activision Blizzard.

The Federal Trade Commission is suing Amazon for what it calls a yearslong effort to enroll consumers without consent into Amazon Prime and making it difficult for them to cancel their subscriptions.

A federal judge has temporarily blocked Microsoft’s planned $69 billion purchase of video game company Activision Blizzard.

The Federal Trade Commission has sued to block Microsoft from completing its deal to buy video game company Activision Blizzard, the latest antitrust challenge to the proposed merger but one that could hasten its conclusion.

Amazon will pay more than $30 million to settle alleged privacy violations involving its voice assistant Alexa and its doorbell camera Ring.

Federal regulators are suing to block biotech drug developer Amgen’s more than $26 billion deal for Horizon Therapeutics.

Any human is vulnerable to being "vished."

Horse racing’s new antidoping and medication control program has stumbled out of the starting gate.

U.S. regulators say Facebook misled parents and failed to protect the privacy of children using its Messenger Kids app.

The federal government will “not hesitate to crack down” on harmful business practices involving artificial intelligence, the head of the Federal Trade Commission warned Tuesday in a message partly directed at the developers of widely-used AI tools such as ChatGPT.

Criminals today are using the art of social engineering, which essentially relies on human psychology to hack someone's personal information rather than technical exploits.

The Supreme Court is allowing challenges to the structure of two federal agencies to go forward in federal court.

Response rates to federal surveys have been dropping in recent years due to growing public concern about privacy and online scams.

According to the Federal Trade Commission, 70,000 people reported losing a record $1.3 billion to romance scams in 2022. Now new resources are available for victims.

A Central Florida woman lost $20,000 in a crypto investment scheme that made it appear as though she had earned more than $389,000 dollars in Bitcoin Day trading.

A Central Florida woman lost $20,000 in a crypto investment scheme that made it appear as though she had earned more than $389,000 dollars in Bitcoin Day trading.

The Federal Trade Commission is investigating Elon Musk’s mass layoffs at Twitter and trying to obtain his internal communications as part of ongoing oversight into the social media company’s privacy and cybersecurity practices, according to documents described in a congressional report.

The online counseling service BetterHelp has agreed to return $7.8 million to customers to settle with the Federal Trade Commission for sharing with companies including Facebook and Snapchat health data it had promised to keep private.

A federal judge has sided with Facebook parent Meta and cleared the way for the company to buy virtual reality startup Within Unlimited, the maker of the popular fitness app Supernatural.

The Federal Trade Commission has imposed a $1.5 million penalty on telehealth and prescription drug discount provider GoodRx Holdings Inc. for sharing users’ personal health data with Facebook, Google and other third parties without their consent.

With egg prices more than doubling in the past year, calls are coming for an investigation into possible price gouging.

Personal emails linked to 235 million Twitter accounts hacked some time ago have been exposed according to Israeli security researcher Alon Gal — making millions vulnerable to having their accounts compromised or identities exposed if they have used the site anonymously to criticize oppressive governments, for instance.

The Federal Trade Commission is proposing a rule that would prevent employers from imposing noncompete clauses for workers.

Microsoft is headed for a battle with the Federal Trade Commission over whether the U.S. will block the tech giant’s planned takeover of video game company Activision Blizzard.

A group of video game players is suing to stop Microsoft from buying video game publisher Activision Blizzard, arguing that the $68.7 billion acquisition would stifle competition and reduce consumer choice.

The maker of the popular Fortnite video game will pay $520 million in penalties and refunds to settle complaints revolving around children’s privacy and its payment methods that tricked players into making unintended purchases.

Shares are higher in Asia after an advance on Wall Street led by the latest rally in technology companies.

The Federal Trade Commission on Thursday sued to block Microsoft’s planned $69 billion takeover of video game company Activision Blizzard, saying it could suppress competitors to its Xbox game consoles and its growing games subscription business.

Federal regulators opened their campaign to block Facebook parent Meta’s acquisition of a virtual-reality company in a San Jose, California, courtroom.

U.S. senators from both parties have expressed skepticism that a proposed merger between grocery giants Kroger and Albertsons will lower prices for consumers.

A federal appeals court has ruled that Congress gave too much power to a nonprofit authority it created in 2020 to develop and enforce horseracing rules.

A group of Democratic senators have asked federal regulators to investigate any possible violations by Twitter of consumer-protection laws or data-security commitments.

Facebook parent Meta struck back in its legal battle with federal regulators over its proposed acquisition of virtual-reality company Within Unlimited and its fitness app Supernatural.

The former chief security officer for Uber has been convicted of trying to cover up a 2016 data breach in which hackers accessed millions of customer records from the ride-hailing service.

Jeffrey Chester, executive director of the Center for Digital Democracy, has advocated in Washington for privacy protection over the last 25 years, warning U.S. lawmakers and regulators about growing threats to Americans’ online privacy.

Federal regulators are ordering Amazon founder Jeff Bezos and CEO Andy Jassy to testify in the government's investigation of Amazon Prime.

The Federal Trade Commission is investigating Amazon’s $3.9 billion acquisition of the primary health organization One Medical, a move that could delay the completion of the deal.

Six states, and the Federal Trade Commission, are suing a rental listing platform accused of paying for fake positive reviews for people looking for affordable housing.

Federal regulators have sued a data broker they accuse of selling sensitive geolocation data from millions of mobile devices.

Walmart has filed a motion to dismiss a lawsuit by the Federal Trade Commission that accuses the retailer of allowing its money-transfer services to be used by scam artists.

Amazon has complained to federal regulators that they're hounding company founder Jeff Bezos and senior executives.

Whether it's the fitness tracker on your wrist, the “smart” home appliances in your house or the latest kids’ fad going viral in online videos, they all produce a trove of personal data for big tech companies.

The head of the nation’s financial watchdog is having second thoughts about using fines to deter illegal behavior in the financial industry, saying some companies have gotten so big that the money makes little difference.

Federal regulators have taken legal action to block Facebook parent Meta and its CEO Mark Zuckerberg from acquiring virtual reality company Within Unlimited and its fitness app Supernatural.

The Supreme Court’s latest climate change ruling could dampen efforts by federal agencies to rein in the tech industry, which went largely unregulated for decades as the government tried to catch up to changes wrought by the internet.

The Federal Trade Commission says it has sued Walmart for allowing its money transfer services to be used by scam artists who the agency says fleeced hundreds of millions of dollars from consumers.

Federal regulators have accused Harley-Davidson and Westinghouse of imposing illegal warranty terms on customers and ordered them to fix their warranties and ensure that their dealers compete fairly with independent repair-makers.

The head of the Federal Trade Commission says the agency is pushing a robust agenda of actions and policies to help safeguard children’s privacy online.

Twitter will pay a $150 million penalty and put in new safeguards to settle federal regulators’ allegations that the social platform failed to protect the privacy of users’ data over a six-year span.

Democratic leaders have announced an effort to give the Federal Trade Commission increased authority to crack down on oil and gas companies that engage in price gouging.

The U.S. House Oversight Committee sent a letter to the Federal Trade Commission saying it found evidence the NFL's Washington Commanders engaged in potentially unlawful financial conduct.

Walmart and Kohl’s are paying a combined $5.5 million in settlements after he Federal Trade Commission said the retailers falsely marketed dozens of sheets and other home textile products as made of environmentally friendly bamboo.

The scammers are back on the robocall circuit and according to the Federal Trade Commission, 2.8 million people lost an estimated $5.2 billion dollars to conmen in 2021 alone.

The Federal Trade Commission is suing TurboTax maker Intuit, saying its ads for “free” tax filing misled consumers.

Altria says an administrative law judge dismissed a federal lawsuit alleging that its investment into vaping company Juul violates anticompetitive laws.

U.S. antitrust regulators have not challenged the $43 billion combination of Discovery and AT&T’s WarnerMedia during a key review period, according to corporate securities filings, easing the way for the deal to close in the next few months.

Federal regulators are suing to block a Lockheed Martin acquisition that it says would limit competition among companies that supply missiles to the Pentagon.

U.S. competition regulators have mounted an effort to tighten enforcement against illegal mergers, in line with President Joe Biden’s mandate for greater scrutiny to big business combinations.

A company once owned by “Pharma Bro” Martin Shkreli will pay up to $40 million to settle allegations that it jacked up the price of a life-saving medication by roughly 4 ,000% after obtaining exclusive rights to the drug.

The Federal Trade Commission has sued to block graphics chip maker Nvidia’s $40 billion purchase of chip designer Arm.

President Joe Biden’s choice to lead enforcement of competition laws at the Justice Department has won Senate approval.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is ordering Apple, Amazon, PayPal and other tech giants to reveal how their proprietary payment networks function.

Federal regulators say they are cracking down on what they're calling an explosion of businesses’ use of fake reviews and other misleading messages to promote their products and services on social media.

The family of a slain journalist is asking the Federal Trade Commission to take action against Facebook for failing to remove online footage of her shooting death.

Facebook is asking a federal court to dismiss a revised complaint against it by the Federal Trade Commission.

McDonald’s has long been the butt of jokes about its ice cream machines which many customers say are always broken.

The Federal Trade Commission has for the first time banned a company making so-called stalkerware from continuing in the surveillance app business.

Federal regulators have sharpened their antitrust attack against Facebook.

President Joe Biden’s administration is moving at home and abroad to try to address concerns about rising energy prices slowing the nation’s recovery from the pandemic-induced recession.

As software and other technologies get infused in more and more products, manufacturers are increasingly making those products difficult to repair, potentially costing business owners time and money.

A senior Federal Trade Commission official is criticizing Facebook’s move to shut down the personal accounts of two academic researchers and terminate their probe into misinformation spread through political ads on the social network.

Federal regulators are moving to give consumers freedom to repair their broken cellphones, computers, videogame consoles and even tractors themselves, or to use independent repair shops.

Facebook is asking that the new head of the Federal Trade Commission step away from decisions on whether to continue the agency’s antitrust case against the social network giant.

Amazon is asking that the new head of the Federal Trade Commission step aside from antitrust investigations into the e-commerce giant.

A federal judge has dismissed antitrust lawsuits brought against Facebook by the Federal Trade Commission and a coalition of state attorneys general, dealing a significant blow to attempts by regulators to rein in tech giants.

A House panel is pushing ahead with ambitious legislation that could curb the market power of Facebook, Google, Amazon and Apple and force them to sever their dominant platforms from their other lines of business.

In a story published June 15, 2021, The Associated Press reported that President Joe Biden had installed a critic of Big Tech as a top federal regulator and it referenced a big antitrust lawsuit brought last December by the Federal Trade Commission and a number of states.

The Federal Trade Commission and six states are suing Frontier Communications for not delivering the internet speeds it promised customers and charging them for better, more expensive service than they actually got.

The Department of Justice’s National Unemployment Insurance Fraud Task Force has launched a one-stop connection to the Federal Trade Commission, Internal Revenue Service and the Department of Labor to provide victims with quick access to resources needed to file an unemployment fraud report in all 50 states.

(AP Photo/Susan Walsh)CHARLOTTE, N.C. – President Joe Biden's nominee to run the federal consumer watchdog agency indicated Tuesday that if confirmed he would restore more aggressive enforcement actions against companies and banks that largely faded during the Trump administration. On his first day in office, Biden asked President Donald Trump's CFPB director, Kathy Kraninger, to resign. Part of the law that overhauled the entire financial industry, the CFPB was given the mission to be an aggressive regulator and a watchdog for American consumers. He left the bureau in in the final days of the Obama administration to work for an outside consumer advocacy group. In 2018, President Donald Trump nominated Chopra to the FTC to fill the Democratic seat on the regulator.

President-elect Joe Biden is set to nominate Rohit Chopra as the director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, tapping a progressive ally of Sen. Elizabeth Warren to helm the agency whose creation she championed. Gensler, a former Goldman Sachs banker, tightened oversight of the complex financial transactions that helped cause the Great Recession. Consumer and investor advocate groups praised the selections of Gensler and Chopra. Mulvaney had been a vocal critic of the consumer agency and made deep changes to it, softening regulations on payday loans, for example, and pulling back on enforcement efforts. As one of two Democratic commissioners on the five-member Federal Trade Commission, Chopra has been an outspoken critic of practices by big companies, especially tech giant Facebook.

Chinas market regulator will increase scrutiny and regulation around the community group buying industry in China, summoning some of its largest tech companies involved to discuss the matter as it looks to eradicate anti-monopoly practices in the industry. In a statement on Tuesday, Dec. 23, 2020, Chinas State Administration for Market Regulation said it had held a meeting with six internet platform companies, including e-commerce firms Alibaba, JD.com and Pinduoduo, to discuss the regulation of community group buying. (AP Photo/Firdia Lisnawati, File)HONG KONG – China is ramping up its scrutiny of the practice of community group buying, summoning some of the nation's largest tech companies for discussions as part of an anti-monopoly push. Community group buying allows groups of people living in the same town or region to buy groceries and other items in bulk at a discounted rate, a growing practice that is being facilitated by big tech companies. The Administration for Market Regulation also warned against illegally collecting and using customer data.

As a wave of antitrust actions surges against Google and Facebook, states in two lawsuits are stretching beyond the cases made by federal competition enforcers to level bold new claims. (AP Photo/File)WASHINGTON – As a wave of antitrust actions surges against Google and Facebook, states in two lawsuits are stretching beyond the cases made by federal competition enforcers to level bold new claims. The states are taking new legal approaches as they join the widening siege against the two once seemingly untouchable behemoths. The latest case came Thursday as dozens of states filed an antitrust lawsuit against Google, alleging that the search giant exercises an illegal monopoly over the online search market, hurting consumers and advertisers. “This is a big deal.” The DOJ brought an antitrust suit against AT&T in 1974 that led to its breakup.

WASHINGTON – Federal regulators are ordering Facebook, Twitter, Amazon, TikTok’s parent and five other social media companies to provide detailed information on how they collect and use consumers’ personal data and how their practices affect children and teens. The other five companies are Reddit, Snap, Discord, WhatsApp, which is owned by Facebook, and Google’s YouTube. Regulators and lawmakers are increasingly weaving their concerns over data power and privacy into their investigations of Big Tech companies' market dominance. Facebook, the largest social network, gets the bulk of its revenue — which reached $70.7 billion last year — from online ads. They said the planned study “will lift the hood on the social media and video streaming firms to carefully study their engines."

The antitrust lawsuits were announced by the Federal Trade Commission and New York Attorney General Letitia James. Regulators filed landmark antitrust lawsuits Wednesday against Facebook, the second major government offensive this year against once seemingly untouchable tech behemoths. Facebook, Google, Amazon and Apple have come under scrutiny from Congress, federal regulators, state attorneys general and European authorities. “The government now wants a do-over, sending a chilling warning to American business that no sale is ever final,” Facebook general counsel Jennifer Newstead said in a statement. Antitrust skeptics point to newer social media services such as TikTok and Snapchat as rivals that could “overtake” older platforms like Facebook.

Federal regulators and a group of states launched a landmark antitrust offensive against Facebook, accusing the social network of abusing its market power in social networking to crush smaller competitors. Amazon and Apple also have been under investigation in Congress and by federal authorities for alleged anticompetitive conduct. Facebook called the government actions “revisionist history” that punishes successful businesses and noted that the FTC cleared the Instagram and WhatsApp acquisitions years ago. James alleged Facebook had a practice of opening its site to third-party app developers, then abruptly cutting off developers that it saw as a threat. Facebook paid $1 billion for Instagram, bolstering the social network's business a month before its stock went public.

WASHINGTON – Federal regulators are requiring Zoom to strengthen its security in a proposed settlement of allegations that the video conferencing service misled users about its level of security for meetings. A complaint filed by the agency accused Zoom of deceiving users over security since at least 2016. “The security of our users is a top priority for Zoom," it said. But we should all be questioning whether Zoom and other tech titans expanded their empires through deception. Zoom could have taken the time to ensure that its security was up to the right standards."

Of more than 85,000 debt collection complaints from consumers this year, the FTC said nearly half pertained to debts that didn’t exist or to abusive and threatening practices. “This might be debt collection complaints; it also might be complaints about various credit repair organizations or debt relief, mortgage relief and debt settlement.”The commission, working with other federal agencies and authorities in 16 states, is also launching a campaign to give consumers tips on what to do when confronted with a debt collection call. Both companies based in the Buffalo area were permanently banned from the debt collection industry under agreements reached in December and February. In many cases, the commission alleges, National Landmark Logistics had no right to collect the debt it sought or there was no debt to collect in the first place. A lawyer for National Landmark Logistics LLC declined comment.

(Leah Millis/Pool via AP)WASHINGTON Compounding the hardships of the coronavirus, some nursing homes have demanded that low-income residents turn over their $1,200 economic stimulus checks, a cash grab lawmakers want to halt. Low-income Medicaid recipients must not be coerced into wrongly handing over their checks for fear of being kicked out of their homes, wrote Neal and Pallone. We are not aware of widespread issues with resident stimulus funds," the American Health Care Association said in a statement. Generally, a Medicaid recipients taxable income is taken into account in determining their eligibility for the program. CMS chief Seema Verma tweeted on Tuesday that nursing homes engaging in this behavior will be subject to enforcement action.