Happy New Year!
Welcome to our first 2023 issue of News and Views. This year
promises to be a busy year for consumer protection policy and law.
Our attorneys will be keeping a close on eye on these issues.
We started the year welcoming FTC veteran Kate White to our
practice. Read more about Kate below. Also be sure to register for
our webinar, “Digital Advertising Privacy Program Priorities and
Tech must-knows for 2023” to help prepare for 2023 U.S.
data privacy compliance effective dates in California (CPRA),
Virginia, Connecticut, Colorado, and Utah.
MEET OUR NEWEST PARTNER
FTC Veteran Katherine White Joins Kelley Drye, Further
Strengthening Firm’s Privacy and Information Security
Practice
Kelley Drye & Warren LLP announced that Katherine White has
joined the firm as partner in its Privacy and Advertising practice
groups. Kate joins Kelley Drye after serving more than 14 years at
the FTC where she held roles as an advisor to Commissioner Noah
Phillips, as counsel to the Director of the Bureau of Consumer
Protection, and as a senior attorney in the Division of Privacy and
Identity Protection.
Read more about Kate White here.
UPCOMING EVENT
Digital Advertising Privacy Program Priorities and Tech
must-knows for 2023
2023 will be a busy year for privacy teams balancing legal
obligations and technology requirements.
Join Kelley Drye’s Aaron Burstein, Ketch’s Jonathan Joseph, and IAB’s Tony Ficarrotta as they unpack some of the more
challenging obligations and trends relevant to digital advertising
when it comes to U.S. data privacy compliance across California
(CPRA), Virginia, Connecticut, Colorado, and Utah – which all go
into effect at various points in 2023.
January 19, 2023 | 12 PM ET | Webinar Register
IN THE NEWS AND LATEST UPDATES
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the Ad Law Access blog here or visit the Advertising and Privacy Law
Resource Center here.
Washington Attorney General Cracks Down on Fake
Reviews
We have previously discussed the emphasis that the FTC has put
on fake reviews throughout 2022, with proposed updates to the
Endorsement Guides and a proposed rule to combat fake reviews in
addition to enforcement efforts. State Attorneys General continue
to also make fake reviews a top priority.
Ana De Armas Fans Move Forward on False
Advertising Suit
The 2019 movie Yesterday is about a world without the Beatles.
The 2022 lawsuit over Yesterday is about a movie without Ana de
Armas. Two fans who each paid $3.99 to rent the movie based on
seeing the actress in the trailer decided to sue Universal after
seeing that she had been removed from the final cut of the
film.
It May Be Time for TikTok to Change its Ways if
State AGs Have Any Say
While State Attorneys General have been clear that social media
companies are generally on their radar for a variety of consumer
protection concerns, TikTok has been the latest to make headlines
in recent weeks. For example, multiple states have banned TikTok
from government phones, and a federal government ban may soon
follow, because of concerns about the Chinese government’s
control over the platform. Higher education institutions are also
joining in the app’s ban with Georgia public colleges and the
University of Oklahoma being two of the most recent to do so.
Two Epic Cases from the FTC: Spotlight on COPPA,
Unfairness, Teens, Dark Patterns, In-App Purchases, Cancellations,
and More
Just in time for the holidays, the FTC has released two
companion settlements resolving allegations that Epic Games (maker
of the popular video game Fortnite) violated the Children’s
Online Protection Act (COPPA) and the FTC Act, with Epic to pay
$520 million in penalties and consumer redress. The cases build on
existing FTC law and precedent but add new dimensions that should
interest a wide array of companies subject to FTC jurisdiction.
Misguided: The FTC Attempts to Redefine the Law
with its Health Products Compliance Guidance
The FTC’s Bureau of Consumer Protection released its Health
Products Compliance Guidance—a sweeping overhaul of the 1998
Guidance, Dietary Supplements: An Advertising Guide for Industry.
Unlike the recently announced effort to review its Green Guides,
the FTC did not seek public comment prior to issuing this
update.
NAD Challenge Addresses Disclosures for Money-Back
Guarantees
Money-back guarantees can often be subject to detailed terms and
conditions. When advertising those guarantees, clients often ask us
how much has to be disclosed in an ad itself, versus how much can
be disclosed on a landing page. Although there isn’t a bright
line rule, a recent NAD challenge sheds light on what practices may
lead to complaints.
Tipping Point for State Attorneys
General?
We previously reported that the AGs (including the DC Attorney
General’s Office) are paying close attention to delivery and
service fees. Sure enough, the DC AG’s office filed yet another
lawsuit related to delivery fees on December 7.
FTC Starts Process of Updating Green
Guides
Green marketing is very much in vogue, and so is suing companies
over their green marketing. If you want to avoid those suits, you
should generally start by looking at the FTC’s Green Guides.
But a lot has changed since the Green Guides were last updated in
2012, so they don’t always provide clear answers to today’s
questions. That may change, now that the FTC has started the
process of updating the Guides.
Top Advertising Law Developments in 2022
If you follow our blog, you already know that there have been a
number of significant developments in the world of advertising law
over the past 12 months. In this post, we highlight ten of those
developments and consider what they might mean for the future.
The content of this article is intended to provide a general
guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought
about your specific circumstances.