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Spend time on social media and video streaming platforms and what will you find? Photos from friends’ vacations, aspirational kale salads, the latest dance fads – and ads for bogus health products, financial scams, counterfeit goods, and the like. How many fraudulent ads appear on those platforms? We conservatively estimate it as . . . a whole lot. The FTC is asking Meta, Instagram, YouTube, TikTok, Snap, Twitter, Pinterest, and Twitch for...

The FTC just released a Request for Information (RFI) on the business practices of Cloud Computing Providers. The RFI is a tool to gather information and inform the FTC’s understanding of cloud computing – we're interested in hearing about issues from users of cloud services, academics, civil society groups, industry participants, and more. Our interests are similar to those of other regulatory colleagues in the US [1], UK [2], France [3], Japan...

The FTC is considering proposed changes to the Eyeglass Rule and has announced a May 18, 2023, public workshop, A Clear Look at the Eyeglass Rule. I f you have clients in the industry – or if you’re interested in consumers’ rights when shopping for glasses – you’ll want to read the �鶹��ý Register Notice to see how the issues are framed. The Ophthalmic Practice Rules – most people know it as the Eyeglass Rule – require ophthalmologists and...

You may have heard of simulation theory, the notion that nothing is real and we’re all part of a giant computer program. Let’s assume at least for the length of this blog post that this notion is untrue. Nonetheless, we may be heading for a future in which a substantial portion of what we see, hear, and read is a computer-generated simulation. We always keep it real here at the FTC, but what happens when none of us can tell real from fake? In a...

Is there a community, family, or workplace that hasn’t been impacted by addiction? For people struggling with substance use disorders, including those devastated by the opioid epidemic, claims made by the AWAREmed clinic must have seemed like – to quote the company’s ads – the “Light at the End of the Tunnel.” But according to a proposed FTC settlement, AWAREmed made a host of deceptive treatment claims, in violation of the FTC Act and the Opioid...

If small business is the engine that powers the American economy, business-to-business transactions are the gears that keep it running. But just as an error on a credit report can throw an unexpected wrench into the works for an individual consumer, an error on a small business credit report can bring even a well-designed business plan to a grinding halt. The FTC just launched an inquiry into the small business credit reporting system and has...

A deep dive into the technical side of FTC’s recent cases on digital health platforms, GoodRx & BetterHelp The �鶹��ý Trade Commission recently took enforcement action against GoodRx [1] and BetterHelp [2], two digital healthcare platforms, for allegedly sharing user health data with third parties for advertising. Both cases highlighted the use of third-party tracking pixels, which enable platforms to amass, analyze, and infer information about...

Here’s an essential truth about essential oils: There is no sound science that demonstrates they can treat, prevent, or cure COVID-19. The FTC announced three settlements with distributors for Utah-based multi-level marketing company doTERRA International, LLC, who made COVID-related claims for some of the company’s essential oils and dietary supplements. Filed by the Department of Justice on the FTC’s behalf, the complaints also note that the...

In the hierarchy of confidential data, health information ranks right up there. And in the hierarchy of health information, details about a person’s mental health may be among the most confidential. But according to the FTC, that’s not how online counseling service BetterHelp viewed it. The FTC says the company repeatedly pushed people to take an Intake Questionnaire and hand over sensitive health information through unavoidable prompts. And it...

The word “recyclable” shows up in a lot of environmental claims for consumer products, but what do people understand the term to mean? Does that perception reflect the current state of recycling practices? And have there been changes in perception or practices that might suggest updates to the FTC’s Green Guides? Those are some of the topics on the table at Talking Trash at the FTC: Recyclable Claims and the Green Guides, a half-day workshop...