On August 17, 2026, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) announced a $2.1 million settlement with online bill-payment company Doxo over allegations that the company, and its two co-founders, deceived consumers through search ads, fees, and subscription practices. The case shows that consumer protection risk can begin at the first click, especially when ads or landing
Federal Trade Commission (FTC)
Privacy Tip #502 – Kids’ Online Safety
By Linn Foster Freedman on
Posted in Privacy Tips
The families of four teenagers who died by suicide recently sued Meta, TikTok, Snapchat, and YouTube, alleging that the teenagers’ use of the platforms over many years was addicting, and caused sleep deprivation, depression, anxiety, and suicidal ideation. The teenagers committed suicide at the ages of 13, 14, 17, and 18, respectively.
These are not…
FTC Frames AI Output Steering as a Potential Section 5 Risk
By Kathryn Rattigan on
Posted in Artificial Intelligence
The Federal Trade Commission’s (FTC) proposed policy statement puts a new consumer-protection frame around AI model behavior: if an AI company represents that its system is designed to deliver accurate, objective, or user-directed outputs, the company may create a reasonable consumer expectation that the system is trying to provide the best answer it can within…
Privacy Tip #492 – FTC Enforcing the Take It Down Act
By Linn Foster Freedman on
Posted in Privacy Tips
On May 19, 2026, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) announced that it will begin enforcing the Take It Down Act (TIDA) immediately. TIDA was made law in May 2025 and requires platforms to remove non-consensual intimate imagery within 48 hours of being notified. It provides criminal penalties for the publication of non-consensual intimate imagery and…
ShinyHunters Hit Instructure + Downs Canvas Learning Management System
By Linn Foster Freedman on
Posted in Cybersecurity
Another recent victim of ShinyHunters is Instructure, the supplier of the Canvas learning management system, which disrupted the login portals of 330 colleges and universities during the critical college exam schedule.
According to Dataminr, ShinyHunters “claimed to have stolen 3.654TB of data affecting about 275 million individuals and 9,000 institutions worldwide.” The stolen data…
FTC’s TAKE IT DOWN Act Stakeholder Letter Signals Heightened Compliance Priority
By Roma Patel on
Posted in Enforcement + Litigation
The spread of AI generated intimate imagery has turned what was already a serious online safety issue into a fast- moving platform governance problem. The Federal Trade Commission’s (FTC) latest stakeholder letter makes clear that covered platforms will be expected to have systems in place before enforcement begins. This week, the FTC sent a stakeholder…
Click to Join, Hard to Leave: FTC Reopens Negative Option Rulemaking
By Roma Patel on
Posted in Enforcement + Litigation
On March 11, 2026, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) announced an Advance Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (ANPRM) highlighting its Rule Concerning the Use of Prenotification Negative Option Plans, seeking comment on whether the rule should be amended or supplemented to better address deceptive or unfair negative option practices.
The FTC describes negative options as marketing…
FTC Signals Pause on AI Regulation
By Roma Patel on
Posted in Artificial Intelligence
On January 27, 2026, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) signaled the agency’s reduced appetite for regulating artificial intelligence. At the Privacy State of the Union Conference in Washington, DC, FTC Bureau of Consumer Protection Director Chris Mufarrige stated there is “no appetite for anything AI-related” in the FTC’s rulemaking pipeline, while adding that the agency…
Privacy Tip #478 – Intrigued With Using AI to Help with Your Tax Return? Please Think Again
By Linn Foster Freedman on
Posted in Privacy Tips
It’s that time of the year when W2s and 1099s pile up in preparation for that dreaded tax return filing deadline. Now that everyone is using AI tools to assist with complicated tasks, as they seem to make any task, even the most dreaded, more efficient, it is tempting to use one to assist with…
Privacy Tip #473 – Rental Scams Fleecing Consumers Out of $65 Million
By Linn Foster Freedman on
Posted in Privacy Tips
An analysis by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) shows that, since 2020, consumers have been swindled out of $65 million by rental scams. This statistic is particularly relevant during the holiday season when many people are traveling and renting places to stay.
According to the FTC, most of the scams involve fake rental listings…