Two US senators have asked the nation's Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to take another look at Google's location harvesting. Democrat Senators Richard Blumenthal and Edward Markey fired off their request-that-can't-be-ignored (PDF) late last week, asking the FTC to “open an investigation into the potential deceptive acts and …

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has revealed the names of six companies it formally warned over efforts to force consumers to use only their replacement parts. Following a freedom of information request from a number of people – including The Register – the federal consumer watchdog has published the letters [PDF] it sent, …

In a further sign that punching your way out of a paper bag is much harder than people assume, America's consumer rights watchdog the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has ended up with one commissioner too many. Christine Wilson was unanimously confirmed by the Senate last week as one of five new FTC commissioners, but there is …

Uber hid a database hack from America's Federal Trade Commission (FTC) while the very same watchdog was investigating Uber for a separate database hack, it was revealed on Thursday. The taxi app maker reached a settlement with the FTC in August 2017 after the biz allegedly "deceived consumers about its privacy and data …

America's Federal Trade Commission has told "six major companies" to cut it out when it comes to trying to force consumers to only use their replacement parts for repairs. The regulator has refused to name the companies that claim a product's warranty is voided if consumers don't use their special parts but did reveal that …

The US Federal Trade Commission has confirmed it is probing Facebook over privacy concerns, sending the social network's share price into a downward spiral. The FTC said in a statement on Monday it has launched a non-public investigation into reports of Facebook's policies amid continued revelations about Cambridge Analytica's …

America's trade regulator the FTC has issued a warning over reports of a new data-harvesting operation that is targeting the victims of a previous scam. The federal watchdog says someone is emailing people, claiming to be from the FTC and soliciting claim forms from the $586m Western Union settlement payout. In this case, the …

PayPal has avoided that terribly tedious act of coughing up a fine, and instead has agreed to play nice with people's privacy – thus settling a complaint against its payment app Venmo by America's trade watchdog, the FTC. The peace treaty, signed this week, will see PayPal avoid any monetary penalties, but will bring the …

A US federal appeals court has prevented the country from falling into a telecoms black hole – by asserting that the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) does have the authority to fine phone giant AT&T for misleading subscribers. The decision today marks a significant shift in how telecommunications companies will be regulated in …

Broadcom has confirmed it's under investigation by the United States' Federal Trade Commission (FTC) over antitrust issues, but doesn't believe that's going to affect its business. News of the investigation broke when the usual “people familiar with the matter” told the Wall Street Journal (probably paywalled) the FTC was …

The US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) today agreed to a settlement deal with a children's electronic toymaker it had accused of collecting kids' personal information and then failing to properly secure that data. The government watchdog said VTech will pay $650,000 and agree to a set of privacy and security requirements in …

The US government's trade watchdog, the FTC, has finalized its settlement deal with Lenovo on charges the PC builder sold Americans machines crammed with intrusive adware. The Federal Trade Commission kicked off 2018 announcing it has approved a deal that will end lawsuits against Lenovo in more than three dozen US states – as …

One of the US government's top regulators has warned that her department is in no position to take on the mantle of protecting the open internet if its sister organization, the FCC, votes on repealing net neutrality regulations later this month. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) Commissioner Terrell McSweeny has repeatedly warned …

Analysis Ajit Pai, chairman of America's broadband watchdog, today confirmed what we all knew was coming for months now: a move to tear up the Obama-era's rules on network neutrality in the US. Essentially, under Pai's latest proposals, ISPs and cablecos can charge subscribers extra if they want packages optimized for video streaming, …

A husband and wife team accused of scamming people with dodgy tech support calls about bogus malware infections have been barred for life from offering IT support and repairs. America's trade regulator, the FTC, said today that its settlement deal with Madhu and Ila Sethi would comprise both a $2m fine and an order that …

Lenovo on Tuesday settled charges that it compromised the security of its computers to fling ads onto desktops from August 2014 through early 2015. The settlement with America's trade watchdog the FTC, plus 32 State Attorneys General, acknowledges no wrongdoing and imposes no financial penalty – other than a paltry $3.5m to …

With much of Houston, Texas, still under water from flooding caused by Hurricane Harvey, scammers are running robocall operations aimed at residents of the storm-ravaged area. US trade watchdog the FTC on Thursday issued an alert after receiving reports of a "flood insurance" scam targeting those in and around the American …

The FTC says it has begun the process of refunding $10m it collected from a tech support scam operation. The US trade watchdog said customers who bought bogus security software from a company called "Advanced Tech Support" or "Inbound Call Experts" will be eligible to get partial refunds. According to the FTC, the operators …