March 15, 2024 at 08:15AM The Federal Trade Commission settled for $26 million with Restoro and Reimage, tech support firms, for deceiving consumers into purchasing unnecessary antivirus and computer repair services. They used fake pop-ups to scare consumers into believing their computers had viruses, then charged for fake services and used deceptive telemarketing tactics. The … Read more
March 14, 2024 at 04:31PM Tech support businesses Restoro and Reimage have settled a $26 million case with the FTC, following accusations of running a Windows antivirus scam. The companies allegedly used scare tactics to coerce consumers into paying for unnecessary services, with the FTC conducting undercover purchases to gather evidence. Restoro and Reimage have … Read more
March 14, 2024 at 12:45PM Restoro and Reimage will pay $26 million to settle charges for using scare tactics to deceive customers into buying unnecessary computer repair services. The U.S. Federal Trade Commission imposed the fine for violating the FTC Act and the Telemarketing Sales Rule. The proposed FTC order also bans them from engaging … Read more
February 27, 2024 at 12:05PM The Hesse Consumer Advice Center in Germany was hit by a ransomware attack causing disruptions in its IT systems, impacting communication channels. Although the website is now fully operational, reaching the center remains difficult. The organization is working with IT security experts to restore communication channels, while concerns about potential … Read more
February 26, 2024 at 05:04PM Nevada AG Ford’s law firm requested a TRO to prevent minors from accessing encrypted communication in Meta’s Messenger app. This follows civil lawsuits alleging deceptive marketing tactics targeting young users. The TRO claim argues that end-to-end encryption hinders law enforcement and poses risks to children, while experts and scholars express … Read more
February 23, 2024 at 05:21PM The FTC filed a lawsuit against H&R Block, alleging deceptive advertising for its “free” online tax filing and pressuring users to buy more expensive services. H&R Block’s 70,000 tax pros worldwide cater to a $3.5 billion revenue. The FTC claims the company misleads customers and makes downgrading products and obtaining … Read more
February 23, 2024 at 12:15PM The FTC fined Avast $16.5 million for allegedly selling consumer browsing data to third parties through its subsidiaries, despite claiming to protect users’ privacy. The FTC accused Avast of collecting and storing browsing data without consent, then selling it to over 100 third parties. Avast is now required to compensate … Read more
February 22, 2024 at 10:39PM The U.S. Federal Trade Commission fined antivirus vendor Avast $16.5 million for selling users’ browsing data to advertisers despite claiming to block online tracking. Avast is banned from selling web browsing data for advertising and must notify affected users. Misleading privacy practices led to public backlash and the termination of … Read more
February 22, 2024 at 03:09PM The US government’s consumer protection agency is taking action against Avast for selling customer web browsing data. The Federal Trade Commission accused the company of collecting and selling data without consumer consent. Avast faces a $16.5 million fine and is ordered to stop selling browsing data. The data sold included … Read more
February 21, 2024 at 02:32AM Europe’s GDPR has reduced data storage and processing for European firms due to increased data management costs. The NBER paper, “Data, Privacy Laws and Firm Production: Evidence from the GDPR,” by economists Mert Demire, Diego J Jiménez Hernández, Dean Li, and Sida Peng, examines the GDPR’s impact on costs, revealing … Read more