Lesley Fair

AT&T Mobility, LLC, will pay $60 million to settle litigation with the Federal Trade Commission over allegations that the wireless provider misled millions of its smartphone customers by charging them for “unlimited” data plans while reducing their data speeds.

The operators of the video social networking app Musical.ly, now known as TikTok, have agreed to pay $5.7 million to settle Federal Trade Commission allegations that the company illegally collected personal information from children. This is the largest civil penalty ever obtained by the Commission in a children’s privacy case. The Musical.ly app allowed users to create short videos lip-syncing to music and share those videos with other users.

Under the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Rule, online services touted as ways to keep kids connected need to comply with key parental notice and consent provisions of COPPA – especially when they’re collecting children’s geolocation. That’s the message of two warning letters just sent by Federal Trade Commission staff. But the letters send another important message about the reach of COPPA.

As consumers have come to rely on multiple devices, companies are using technologies to connect a consumer’s activity across those devices – smartphones, tablets, desktops, laptops, and more. It’s called cross-device tracking and the Federal Trade Commission just released a staff report on the subject. Drawing on an earlier FTC workshop, the report discusses the benefits and the challenges associated with technologies that enable cross-device tracking. Here is a summary of some staff recommendations:

Transparency: FTC staff calls on anyone engaged in cross-device tracking – both cross-device tracking companies and consumer-facing entities – to truthfully disclose their tracking activities.
Choice: Companies should offer consumers choices about how their cross-device activity is tracked. It goes without saying that if consumers are told they can opt out of tracking, companies must honor that promise.
Special considerations for sensitive data: For certain categories of sensitive data – for example, health, financial, or children’s information – the staff recommends not tracking consumers without their express affirmative consent.
Security:Consistent with the message businesses have been hearing for years, the staff report recommends that companies practice good data hygiene to avoid unauthorized access, including by hackers in the case of a data breach.
Periodic reassessment of technologies and practices: FTC staff recommends that companies periodically reassess their practices as technology evolves and simplify consent choices whenever possible.

Smart TVs, streaming devices, game consoles, apps and set-top boxes may track consumers’ viewing habits in one way or another. The benefits of tracking technology are apparent anytime a person follows a “Viewers who watched The Night Manager also enjoyed The Last Panthers” recommendation. But what about the privacy implications? That’s just one of the topics on the playlist at the Federal Trade Commission’s third Fall Technology Series on Smart TV, scheduled for December 7, 2016.

According to the agenda, Bureau of Consumer Protection Director Jessica Rich will set the stage with opening remarks at 1:00 ET. She’ll change the channel to Justin Brookman, Policy Director of the FTC’s Office of Technology, Research, & Investigation, who will discuss the Smart TV ecosystem. The first panel will discuss New Frontiers in Media Measurement and Targeting – how Smart TVs provide key metrics, how the technology can target consumers across devices, and how companies and self-regulatory groups are addressing the challenges of providing consumers with transparency and choice. The second panel will focus on Consumer Understanding and Regulatory Framework. What do consumers know about the new world of smart entertainment – and what do they think about it? What information is collected about them, with whom is it shared, and how can consumers find out more about what goes on behind the scenes? The speakers also will consider the legal protections or regulatory structures relevant to how the information is collected and used.

The Restore Online Shoppers’ Confidence Act (ROSCA) is a new law that makes it illegal to charge a consumer for goods or services sold in an Internet transaction through any negative option method -- including trial conversions, continuity plans, or automatic renewals -- unless the business:

1. clearly and conspicuously discloses all materials terms of the transaction before getting consumers’ billing information;
2. gets consumers’ express informed consent before charging their accounts; and
3. offers simple ways for people to stop the recurring charges.

Mobile Cramming: A Federal Trade Commission Staff Report suggests five best practices for the payment option known as “carrier billing.”

• Consider giving consumers the option to block third-party charges.
• Honor long-standing truth-in-advertising principle.
• Charges shouldn’t be placed on consumers’ bills unless they’ve given their express, informed consent.
• Charges for third-party services should be clearly shown on consumers’ bills.
• Carriers should set up effective ways for consumers to dispute charges.

The Federal Trade Commission accused T-Mobile of making hundreds of millions of dollars by charging mobile phone customers for "premium" SMS subscriptions that, in many cases, the consumers never authorized.

It was an all-too-common occurrence. People’s mobile phone bills included unexplained -- and unauthorized -- monthly charges. It’s called cramming and the Federal Trade Commission has brought a series of cases against companies that had fees for ringtones, horoscopes, “love tips,” etc., placed on cell phone bills without consumers’ consent. The crammers took a chunk of the cash, but you might be surprised to learn who the FTC says pocketed a 35-40% piece of the action.

A just-filed lawsuit pulls back the curtain on the role the FTC alleges that mobile phone carrier T-Mobile USA played in deceptive and unfair billing. Furthermore, according to the complaint, T-Mobile didn’t respond well to consumer complaints. In many cases, the company flat-out refused to give refunds for unauthorized charges or offered only partial refunds.

Count I of the lawsuit alleges that T-Mobile violated Section 5 of the FTC Act by making deceptive representations about charges on consumers’ phone bills. Count II focuses on allegedly unfair billing practices. What's the FTC asking for? A court order to prevent T-Mobile from engaging in mobile cramming, refunds for consumers, and disgorgement of T-Mobile’s ill-gotten gains.

The Federal Trade Commission would like to hear your health questions -- your questions about consumer generated and controlled health data, that is.

That’s the topic of an FTC seminar on May 7, 2014, and you’re invited to participate. The seminar -- part of the FTC’s spring privacy series – will examine how consumers are taking a more active role in managing and generating their own health data through websites, devices, apps, etc. What are the potential benefits and privacy implications of these new technologies?

Educators, administrators, and parents have been asking an important question: How do the protections of the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) and the accompanying Federal Trade Commission rule apply in the school setting?

FTC staff has responded by updating Complying with COPPA: Frequently Asked Questions to address some of the issues that arise when COPPA goes to school.

The new FAQs cover key compliance topics and offer guidance on best practices.