FTC Chairman Releases 2012 Annual Highlights

Federal Trade Commission Chairman Jon Leibowitz released the agency’s 2012 Annual Highlights. The Highlights focus on the FTC’s work in multiple areas since March 2011, including online privacy, consumer fraud during the economic downturn, health care competition, and safeguarding children.

The Highlights call to attention the FTC’s work in 10 broad categories, including:

• Protecting Consumer Privacy: The FTC continues to raise the profile of privacy practices – online and off - through law enforcement, consumer education, and policy initiatives.
• Fighting ‘Last Dollar’ Fraud: The FTC is stopping scammers who take advantage of the nation’s most financially fragile consumers through deceptive mortgage servicing practices, abusive debt collection tactics, bogus credit repair services, sham mortgage, tax, and debt relief offers, and fraudulent job and business opportunity schemes.
• Promoting Competition in Health Care and Containing Costs of Prescription Drugs: The Commission works to prevent anticompetitive conduct and mergers involving the health care sector, from hospitals to pharmaceutical companies. One of the FTC’s top priorities continues to be restricting anticompetitive “pay-for-delay” patent settlements.
• Trending in Technology: Nearly 100 years of experience gives the FTC a unique perspective when it comes to anticipating and evaluating new technology, and using appropriate measures of enforcement, education, and public engagement to address evolving markets and business models.