Once upon a time, subscriptions were something customers signed up for that resulted in a magazine or newspaper arriving for a set amount of time. Today? Subscriptions have become the norm. From Netflix and Audible at home to subscriptions for Adobe and Microsoft for work, it is clear that business models have evolved. Subscriptions can be convenient for consumers, and [...]
A regulatory compliance audit is an assessment of a business’s policies, procedures, and practices against an established set of legal requirements or industry best practices. You may be evaluating your telemarketing practices against requirements of the TCPA and other telemarketing laws, your marketing campaigns against UDAP regulations, or your privacy framework against new CCPA demands. You might also be assessing [...]
A conversation with Helen Mac Murray, Founding Partner, Mac Murray & Shuster, LLP Do You Need to Worry About Consumer Protection Laws? The short answer is yes. A quick primer: Consumer protection laws are an important tool in the arsenals of state attorneys general (AGs), and their offices are quick to take targeted enforcement action against any business found [...]
On Tuesday, June 15, 2021, the U.S. Senate confirmed Democrat Lina Kahn as Chair of the Federal Trade Commission. Kahn’s term will last through September 2024 as she takes over the position previously held by FTC Chair Joseph Simmons, who resigned in January 2021. With both Democrats and Republicans focusing on helping state and federal antitrust enforcers combat Big Tech’s [...]
“The courts of this country should not be the places where resolution of disputes begins. They should be the places where the disputes end after alternative methods of resolving disputes have been considered and tried.” — U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor These words lend wisdom and provide insight to parties trying to decide how best to resolve a [...]
A Monthly, Quarterly, and Annual Checklist for Your Organization Maintaining compliance with important privacy and other consumer protection regulations is not something you can afford to set and forget. If your business engages directly with consumers, or supports other businesses that do, there are specific compliance-focused tasks that should be part of your ongoing operations. It’s critical to stay on [...]
The Supreme Court issued a ruling that will limit the Federal Trade Commission’s ability to collect restitution when companies are found to have violated the FTC Act by engaging in false advertising. In its Opinion, the Court stated, “The question presented is whether th[e] statutory language authorizes the Commission to seek, and a court to award, equitable monetary relief such [...]
On April 21, 2021, in a decision that threatens collector relationships with vendors, the Eleventh Circuit held that a debt collector’s transmittal of a consumer’s personal information to a mail house vendor constitutes a communication “in connection with the collection of any debt” to a third party, potentially in violation of the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA). In Hunstein [...]
On March 15, 2021, the California Attorney General’s Office (“CAG”) announced approval by the Office of Administrative Law of the fourth set of modifications to the California Consumer Privacy Act regulations. The minor modifications accepted in the fourth proposal clarify the CCPA, although developments will continue until after implementation of the California Privacy Rights Act, which is effective on January [...]
On March 11, 2021, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau rescinded its “Statement of Policy Regarding Prohibition on Abusive Acts or Practices” announced in January 2020. The Statement attempted to clarify uncertainty surrounding the Bureau’s exercise of its abusiveness jurisdiction. However, new Bureau leadership determined that the Statement had the opposite effect, hampering understanding while creating potential harm to consumers and [...]
