Author Archives: Allison Zieve

Mobile advertising company settles FTC charges of tracking hundreds of millions of consumers’ locations without permission

Singapore-based mobile advertising company InMobi will pay $950,000 in civil penalties and implement a comprehensive privacy program to settle Federal Trade Commission charges it deceptively tracked the locations of hundreds of millions of consumers – including children – without their knowledge or consent to serve them geo-targeted advertising. The FTC alleges that InMobi mispresented that […]

GAO report on CFPB: “Additional Actions Needed to Support a Fair and Inclusive Workplace”

In light about discrimination and retaliation at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and concerns about CFPB’s management practices and culture, the Government Accountability Office was asked to review personnel management and organizational culture issues at the CFPB. This week, GAO released its report, examining (1) CFPB employees’ views on these issues and (2) CFPB’s efforts […]

Los Angeles addresses evictions used to make room for Airbnb rentals

Courthouse News has this report: Citing a growing housing crisis in Los Angeles, the city attorney has begun targeting landlords who illegally convert their rent-controlled apartment buildings to short-term tourist rentals or hotels. "In a city with a profound shortage of affordable housing, unlawfully converting rental units to operate [as] hotels has got to stop," […]

Operators of tech support scam settle FTC charges

The defendants behind Vast Tech Support have agreed to settle Federal Trade Commission and State of Florida charges that they scammed thousands of consumers out of millions of dollars by selling them bogus technical support services. Under the settlement, Vast Tech Support, LLC and OMG Tech Help, LLC and their chief operating officer, Mark Donohue […]

Report finds that payday lenders skirt state laws

The Democratic staff of the House Financial Services Committee issued a report yesterday on compliance with state payday lending laws. Entitled “Skirting the Law: Five Tactics Payday Lenders Use to Evade State Consumer Protection Laws,” the report finds that state-level regulation of the payday lending industry is insufficient and concludes that strong federal consumer protections […]

FDA warns Whole Foods of “serious violations” of food safety regulations

CNBC reports: Whole Foods was slapped with a warning letter from the Food and Drug Administration earlier this month after the FDA found "serious violations" of federal regulations during an inspection of the company's food preparation facility in Massachusetts. FDA inspectors reportedly found various food products, including mushroom quesadillas, chives, beets and couscous that were […]

DC Circuit upholds FCC’s net neutrality rule

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit just released an opinion rejecting a challenge to the Federal Communications Commission’s 2015 decision to impose network neutrality rules, which seek to prevent internet service providers from blocking or favoring websites. In short, the background of the case is this: The Commission … promulgated the order […]