The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has issued a request for comments concerning a proposed parental consent method submitted by AssertID, Inc. under the Voluntary Commission Approval Processes provision of the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Rule. Amended December 19, 2012, and effective July 1, 2013, the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Rule requires certain websites to post privacy policies and obtain verifiable parental consent before collecting, using or disclosing personal information from children younger than age 13 and provides approved methods for obtaining the consent. Interested parties may, however, submit requests for commission approval of additional consent methods. Regarding AssertID, Inc.’s proposal, the commission seeks comment on the following questions: (i) is this method already covered by existing methods listed in Section 312.5(b)(1) of the rule; (ii) does the proposed method meet the requirements for parental consent laid out in 16 C.F.R. § 312.5(b)(1)—is it reasonably calculated to ensure that the person…
Category Archives Federal Trade Commission
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has issued a modified 10-year review schedule that includes Fair Packaging and Labeling Act regulations among those for which the agency plans to request public input in 2013 as to their need, costs, benefits, and burdens. Specifically at issue are the regulations under sections 4 and 5(c), exemptions from requirements under 16 C.F.R. Part 500, and statements of general policy or interpretation (16 C.F.R. Part 503). FTC also intends to review and solicit public comments on its telemarketing sales rule. See Federal Register, May 23, 2013.
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has reportedly sent letters to more than 90 businesses in an effort to educate them about updates to the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) that take effect July 1, 2013. According to a May 15, 2013, FTC press release, the agency sent separate letters to both domestic and foreign companies “that may be collecting images or sounds of children” as well as those “that may be collecting persistent identifiers from children.” The letters explain to recipients that under the new rules, personal information now includes (i) “a photograph or video with a child’s image, or an audio file that has a child’s voice,” and (ii) “persistent identifiers, such as cookies, IP addresses and mobile device IDs, that can recognize users over time and across different websites or online services.” “Companies whose apps collect, store or transmit this information, as well as other personal information…
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has issued guidance to answer stakeholder questions about changes to the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) slated to take effect on July 1, 2013. According to FTC, the new rules apply not only to the operators of Websites and mobile apps directed at children younger than age 13, but the operators of general audience sites and apps “with actual knowledge that they are collecting, using, or disclosing personal information from children under 13,” as well as third-party operators “that have actual knowledge that they are collecting personal information directly from users of another Web site or online service directed to children.” In addition to describing the types of personal information covered by COPPA, which for the first time will class IP addresses as persistent identifiers, the guidance addresses, among other things, (i) new online privacy policy rules, including requirements for displaying the policy; (ii)…
The Animal Legal Defense Fund (ALDF) and Compassion Over Killing have reportedly filed a complaint in a California federal court against the Food and Drug Administration, U.S. Department of Agriculture and Federal Trade Commission claiming that the agencies have failed to regulate animal-welfare labeling on egg cartons. According to ALDF, rulemaking petitions were filed in 2006 and 2007 asking for egg production methods to be fully disclosed on every carton of eggs sold in the United States. The agencies have not only allegedly failed to take action on these requests, they have also apparently failed to take action against “the often-misleading claims and deceptive imagery widely found on egg cartons.” The plaintiffs seek a court order requiring the agencies to adopt rules that would mandate that producers clearly label their egg cartons with egg production methods, including “Eggs from Caged Hens.” See ALDF News Release, March 28, 2013.
POM Wonderful LLC has filed a petition seeking review in the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals of a Federal Trade Commission (FTC) order requiring two randomized, controlled clinical trials before the company can make a claim that its pomegranate juice products treat, prevent or reduce the risk of heart disease, prostate cancer or erectile dysfunction. POM Wonderful LLC v. FTC, No. 13-1060 (D.C. Cir., filed March 8, 2013). In its January ruling, FTC found that the company made false and misleading claims by advertising its products with health-benefit assertions that POM contended were backed by medical research. Additional information about the FTC rulings in the case appears in issues 441 and 467 of this Update.
Evidently in response to public comments, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has modified its agreement with Phusion Projects, LLC to require an alcohol facts panel on certain-sized cans of its Four Loko fruit-flavored malt beverage. In re Phusion Projects, LLC, No. C-4382 (FTC, order entered February 6, 2013). The agreement resolves charges that the company and its principals falsely claimed that a 23.5-ounce can contained “the alcohol equivalent of one or two regular 12-ounce beers, and that a consumer could drink one entire can safely on a single occasion.” To the contrary, according to FTC’s administrative complaint, the products contain the alcohol equivalent of four to five 12-ounce cans of beer. Without admitting liability, the company has agreed to label any container of Four Loko or other flavored malt beverage with more than two servings of alcohol with an alcohol facts panel. The panel will set forth the “the container…
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has issued a final decision in a complaint alleging that POM Wonderful made false and misleading claims by advertising its pomegranate juice products with health-benefit assertions that the company contended were backed by medical research. In re POM Wonderful LLC, No. 9344 (FTC, decided January 10, 2013). Additional information about the matter appears in Issue 441 of this Update. Henceforth, two randomized, controlled clinical trials (RCTs) will be required before POM can make a claim that any of its products treat, prevent or reduce the risk of heart disease, prostate cancer or erectile dysfunction (ED). Any efficacy or health benefit claims falling short of disease claims will require substantiation consisting of “competent and reliable scientific evidence . . . that must be sufficient in quality and quantity when considered in the light of the entire body of relevant and reliable scientific evidence, to substantiate that the…
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) recently adopted final amendments to the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Rule (COPPA) that aim to “strengthen kids’ privacy protections and give parents greater control over the personal information that websites and online services may collect from children under 13.” Based on the findings of a review initiated in 2010, these amendments (i) “modify the list of ‘personal information’ that cannot be collected without parental notice and consent, clarifying that this category includes geolocation information, photographs, and videos”; (ii) “offer companies a streamlined, voluntary and transparent approval process for new ways of getting parental consent”; (iii) “close a loophole that allowed kid-directed apps and websites to permit third parties to collect personal information from children through plug-ins without parental notice and consent”; (iv) “extend coverage in some of those cases so that the third parties doing the additional collection also have to comply with COPPA”; (v)…
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has released a December 2012 staff report finding that only 20 percent of the 400 children’s mobile applications under review “contained any privacy-related disclosure on the app’s promotion page, on the developer website, or within the app.” Titled “Mobile Apps for Kids: Disclosures Still Not Making the Grade,” the report also warned that even when privacy policies were provided, they were often “long, dense and technical” or lacking in “basic details, such as what specific information about a child would be collected, the reason for collecting such information, or what parties would obtain the information.” According to FTC staff, its testing results evidently revealed that 59 percent of the 400 apps “transmitted some information from a user’s mobile device back to the developer or a third-party,” with 5 percent transmitting the device ID to developers; 56 percent transmitting the device ID to advertising networks, analytics…
