The US Department of Justice has beat out the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to become the top dog in an antitrust review of Google’s proposed purchase of fitness tracker Fitbit. According to sources who have briefed several media outlets, both arms of the government wanted to take a look at the $2.1bn buy. The FTC would …

The US Federal Trade Commission has issued what looks to be a largely symbolic ruling against the remnants of data-harvesting marketers Cambridge Analytica. In a unanimous 5-0 ruling (PDF) issued on Friday, the trade body declared that the defunct British marketing intelligence operation ran afoul of laws against deceptive …

UpdatedAngry AT&T customers have asked a judge to force America's trade watchdog, the FTC, to hand over the information it used to reach a $60m settlement with the cellular network for throttling “unlimited data” plans. Last month, the FTC finally reached an agreement with AT&T following a five-year legal battle in which the telco …

CommentToothless American consumer watchdog the Federal Trade Commission today agreed to let AT&T settle a five-year battle over phony “unlimited data” promises for just $60m. That's $40m less than expected, and less than one day of annual profit for the telco giant. The agreement [PDF] lets AT&T claim it did nothing wrong; the …

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has refused to release an infamous report into Google’s anti-competitive behavior, claiming that staff reports are exempt from America's Freedom of Information Act. "Unfortunately, we are not able to honor your request," FTC chair Joe Simons wrote to Senator Josh Hawley (R-MO) this week …

Twitter says it was just an accident that caused the microblogging giant to let advertisers use private information to better target their marketing materials at users. The social networking giant on Tuesday admitted to an "error" that let advertisers have access to the private information customers had given Twitter in order …

America's trade watchdog claims the owner of Match.com, Tinder, and other dating sites, shafted its lonely-hearts by allowing obviously bogus bot profiles to feign interest in the singletons. On Wednesday, the FTC alleged in a legal complaint that Match.com and other dating sites owned by Match group broke US law when they let …

It’s been a year since hapless credit-monitoring company Equifax admitted hackers gained access to the personal details of some 175 million people on its servers – and it has marked the anniversary with an extra legal hurdle for those seeking compensation. The credit-history collectors lost control of details, included the …

Qualcomm won’t be obliged to license key patents to its competitors – for now – after it won a stay at the Ninth Circuit. The appeals court was asked by the chipmaker to put the brakes on a number of enforced changes made after Qualcomm lost a high-profile court case brought by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC). Key among …

The Federal Communications Commission and Federal Trade Commission have pushed back against US President Trump's proposal to put them in charge of policing social media firms he claims are biased against right-wingers. The draft executive order, titled "Protecting Americans from Online Censorship", aims to restrict the ability …

The boss of the Federal Trade Commission, Joe Simons, said yesterday that his agency could split up big technology companies if other solutions or remedies did not work. The FTC chairman said the US regulator could potentially unpick previous mergers as part of its wide-ranging probe into large tech companies. This could refer …

America's trade watchdog has officially told millions in the US not to apply for the $125 it promised each of them as part of the deal it struck with Equifax – and instead take up an offer of free credit monitoring. In a memo on Wednesday, FTC assistant director Robert Schoshinski said the regulator has been overwhelmed by …

Facebook is stronger than ever, despite the best efforts of the US government to rein it in over privacy and legal violations. The House of Zuck on Wednesday revealed gains [PDF] in revenues, daily active users, and mobile advertising in the second quarter of 2019, as it took those massive settlement fees in its stride. For …

Facebook will be asked to fork out $5bn in a settlement with America's trade watchdog, the FTC, following last year's Cambridge Analytica fiasco, it was reported Friday. The proposed deal will end an FTC probe into whether the antisocial network broke a 2012-era pledge to better protect its addicts' privacy. In 2018, Facebook …

Taiwanese networking equipment vendor D-Link will have to submit to a decade of product security audits after agreeing to settle a lawsuit brought by the US Federal Trade Commission. It has also pledged to maintain a "comprehensive software security programme" for the next 20 years, designed to make its IP cameras and routers …

One thing you can't accuse people of in Washington DC is lacking an appetite for power. But not, it seems, if that power comes with responsibility. This morning, co-founder of Facebook, Chris Hughes, launched a blistering but well-reasoned attack on his former company and his friend CEO Mark Zuckerberg in which he outlined why …

No less than 42 US state attorneys general have warned that the epidemic of robocalls sweeping the nation is causing serious harm to ordinary Americans. In a letter [PDF] to telecoms regulator, the FCC, the AGs note that "the explosive growth of caller ID spoofing and robocalls is being driven primarily by scams," and point …

Facebook's financial figures for its first quarter of 2019, published Wednesday, had an interesting twist. The Mark Zuckerberg-run biz set aside $3bn of its profits, effectively halving its net income, to foot an expected fine from America's trade watchdog for seemingly running roughshod over people's privacy. The size of the …