The Federal Trade Commission is seeking public comment on how children are affected by digital advertising and marketing messages that may blur the line between ads and entertainment. The FTC is seeking the input in conjunction with an October 19, 2022 event that will examine the topic. More information is here.
Author Archives: Allison Zieve
Two announcements today from the CFPB: CFPB Warns that Digital Marketing Providers Must Comply with Federal Consumer Finance Protections Today, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) issued an interpretive rule laying out when digital marketing providers for financial firms must comply with federal consumer financial protection law. CFPB Takes Action Against Hello Digit for Lying […]
This week, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau published an analysis of how actions announced by the three largest national consumer reporting companies – Experian, Equifax, and TransUnion – will affect people who have allegedly unpaid medical debt on their credit reports. “Nearly half of those with medical collections appearing on their credit reports will continue […]
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has issued a legal interpretation to ensure that companies that use and share credit reports and background reports have a permissible purpose under the Fair Credit Reporting Act. The CFPB’s new advisory opinion makes clear that credit reporting companies and users of credit reports have specific obligations to protect the […]
Today, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau fined Bank of America $100 million for botching the disbursement of state unemployment benefits at the height of the pandemic. The CFPB said that "Bank of America automatically and unlawfully froze people’s accounts with a faulty fraud detection program, and then gave them little recourse when there was, in […]
On the last day of its term, the Supreme Court issued its decision in West Virginia v. EPA—a decision highly anticipated, and perhaps dreaded, by federal agencies, administrative law experts, and members of the public who care about the ability of the government to act to protect public health, safety, consumer interests, and the environment. […]
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau last week issued an advisory opinion affirming that federal law often prohibits debt collectors from charging “pay-to-pay” fees. These charges, commonly described by debt collectors as “convenience fees,” are imposed on consumers who want to make a payment in a particular way, such as online or by phone. The press […]
The Federal Trade Commission yesterday sued Walmart for allowing its money transfer services to be used by fraudsters, who fleeced consumers out of hundreds of millions of dollars. In its lawsuit, the FTC alleges that for years, the company turned a blind eye while scammers took advantage of its failure to properly secure the money transfer […]
Today, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau issued an interpretive rule affirming states’ abilities to protect their residents through their own fair credit reporting laws. The CFPB rule explains that, with limited preemption exceptions, states have the flexibility to preserve fair and competitive credit reporting markets by enacting state-level laws that are stricter than the federal […]
Seven Democratic and Democratic-caucusing senators sent a letter to the Federal Trade Commission on Wednesday calling on it to use its authority to protect communities of color and immigrant communities in the United States from discriminatory online practices, biometric surveillance, consumer predation, and anti-competitive behavior. The letter focuses on the impact of facial recognition and […]