Last week, multiple state Attorneys General (AGs) and staff from offices nationwide gathered in Washington, DC for the National Association of Attorneys General (NAAG) 2022 Consumer Protection Fall Conference. The conference...more
Early this week, a coalition of 40 attorneys general obtained two multistate settlements with Experian concerning data breaches it experienced in 2012 and 2015 that compromised the personal information of millions of...more
Earlier this week, we posted that a plaintiff filed a proposed class action against the NFL over its automatic renewal practices. The complaint alleges that the NFL used “dark patterns” to enroll consumers in its NFL+...more
As we’ve previously reported, the fight against “big tech” remains a high priority for State Attorneys General on both sides of the aisle. A lot of activity took place over the summer that continues to reinforce the AGs’...more
Most people would generally agree that discriminating on the basis of race, color, religion, disability, or similar factors is a bad thing to do – indeed, that it’s “unfair” within the common meaning of the word. It’s also...more
No, we’re not talking about sinister sewing guides, but rather practices or formats that may manipulate or mislead consumers into taking actions they would not otherwise take.
We untangled the topic of so-called “dark...more
Last month, we discussed the broad authority that State Attorneys General have in enforcing price gouging laws – many of which remain in effect given the number of states that are still under some state of emergency. We...more
This week, 38 Attorneys General joined forces in a letter promulgated by the National Association of Attorneys General (NAAG) to urge Congress to provide them with authority to address consumers’ frustrations with airlines,...more
On May 31, the US Supreme Court reinstated an injunction first implemented in December 2021 regarding HB 20, the Texas law prohibiting social media companies from certain content moderation based on viewpoints. Its decision...more
Last week, 40 State Attorneys General entered into a settlement with Ford Motor Company related to its substantiation of payload capacity claims on certain Super Duty pickup trucks and the fuel economy of certain C-Max...more
At this week’s Spring National Association of Attorneys General Consumer Protection Conference, State AG staff gathered to discuss multistate investigations, enforcement priorities, and recent challenges. The introductory...more
Recently Georgia Attorney General Carr warned consumers of potential price gouging of baby formula and related scams. He notes price gouging protections are in effect there until at least June 14, 2022 due to a state of...more
Earlier this week, 50 states and D.C. obtained a $141 million settlement with Intuit related to its advertising of free and freemium TurboTax products. This settlement, which took the form of an Assurance of Voluntary...more
As we’ve discussed in recent posts, State Attorneys General often take positions on important consumer protection policy issues through a joint letter from the National Association of Attorneys General, often referred to as a...more
As companies wait to see whether the Utah Consumer Privacy Act (UCPA) becomes the fourth comprehensive state privacy law, we are providing an overview of some of the Act’s key provisions – and how they depart from...more
Remington recently agreed to a groundbreaking $73 million settlement of claims brought by families of Sandy Hook school shooting victims. Notably, the plaintiffs secured this settlement by deploying consumer protection...more
In the absence of a federal privacy law, privacy has been at the forefront of many states’ legislative sessions this year:
- Utah is poised to be the fourth state to enact comprehensive privacy legislation
- Florida...more
In late January, Georgia Attorney General Chris Carr reached a settlement with Rent-A-Center regarding a variety of alleged deceptive practices in its rent-to-own business, including in its debt collection and general...more
Last week, 49 State Attorneys General joined in a National Association of Attorneys General letter authored by Florida, Iowa, Mississippi, Pennsylvania, and Tennessee responding to the FTC’s Request for Public Comment...more
Last week, the Attorney General Alliance hosted a seminar to address the Colorado Privacy Act (CPA)—what it does and how to prepare for its July 1, 2023 effective date. The seminar featured a discussion with the bill’s...more
In Part One of this discussion, we provided background on the concept of dark patterns and analyzed some recent examples from State AG enforcement. We concluded that, in alleging dark patterns, State AGs are building...more
State and federal regulators have definitely put a new emphasis on combatting so-called “dark patterns” – a term attributed in 2010 to user-experience expert Harry Brignull, who runs the website darkpatterns.org. Consider...more
On January 26, Minnesota Federal District Court Judge John Tunheim dismissed a pending action for declaratory relief brought by WinRed, Inc., seeking to enjoin an ongoing consumer protection investigation brought by the...more
On January 14, so called Pharma Bro Martin Shkreli was found personally liable for antitrust claims brought by the FTC and 7 State AGs. His company Vyera raised the price of medication Daraprim by 4000% after it purchased the...more
Consumers across the country have been scrambling to get their hands on convenient and quick at-home Covid tests for weeks as the Omicron variant surge has gripped the country. With President Biden’s recent announcement that...more