The personally identifiable information (PII) of more than 1.3 million individuals was compromised due to a “critical flaw” in Citrix’s NetScaler software, alleged a class action Monday (docket 0:24-cv-60048) in U.S. District Court for Southern Florida in Fort Lauderdale. The suit names Citrix, its customer LoanCare and LoanCare parent company Fidelity National Financial (FNF).
U.S. District Judge Kelley Hodge for Eastern Pennsylvania in Philadelphia granted the FTC and Rite Aid's Sept. 19 joint motion to stay their case for 45 days to give the U.S. Bankruptcy Court time to approve their facial recognition settlement, said Hodge’s signed order Thursday (docket 2:23-cv-05023). The action is stayed until Feb. 2 or until the bankruptcy court approves the settlement, whichever is earlier, said the order. The parties by Feb. 2 will file a motion seeking entry of the settlement, or will otherwise notify the court “of the status of the effort” to seek bankruptcy court approval, it said. The settlement with the FTC bars Rite Aid from using facial recognition technology for surveillance purposes in its stores for five years (see 2312190090). The FTC had alleged that Rite Aid failed to implement reasonable procedures and prevent harm to consumers in its use of facial recognition technology to combat theft in hundreds of its stores.
The FTC hailed Friday’s order signed by U.S. District Judge Edgardo Ramos for Southern New York in Manhattan granting the agency’s motion for a preliminary injunction that blocks Iqvia’s Propel Media buy (see 2307200024). The FTC “has satisfied its burden of demonstrating that a preliminary injunction of the proposed acquisition is in the public interest,” said Ramos’ order (docket 1:23-cv-06188). The agency also has shown that there’s “a reasonable probability that the proposed acquisition will substantially impair competition in the relevant market and that the equities weigh in favor of injunctive relief,” said the order. The injunction is pending the commission’s administrative proceeding seeking to permanently block the proposed deal. An administrative trial is scheduled to begin Jan. 18. “We are pleased with the federal court’s decision and look forward to continuing to fight to permanently enjoin this anticompetitive deal via the Commission’s administrative proceedings,” said Bureau of Competition Director Henry Liu in a statement Wednesday.
Lead generator Response Tree and president Derek Doherty would be banned from making or assisting in making robocalls or calls to numbers on the national do not call registry under a proposed DOJ order for permanent injunction filed Tuesday (docket 8:24-cv-00001) in U.S. District Court for Central California in Santa Ana. DOJ's complaint was filed Tuesday in the same court.
FloatMe and co-founders Joshua Sanchez and Ryan Cleary run a personal finance mobile app that promises consumers who live paycheck to paycheck short-term cash advances if they enroll in a $1.99 monthly membership plan, but they fail to deliver on those promises, alleged the FTC's complaint Tuesday (docket 5:24-cv-00001) in U.S. District Court for Western Texas in San Antonio. Since launching the app in 2019, FloatMe, Sanchez and Cleary have used “misrepresentations” to induce consumers to enroll in a subscription plan, said the complaint. FloatMe advertises that paying consumers can receive cash advances of up to $50 instantly on request, and that consumers can receive that amount immediately after signing up. “But consumers can actually receive only $20, at most,” it said. FloatMe also tells consumers that their cash advance limit will increase over time under an “automated process,” but in fact there’s no such process, “and the vast majority of consumers never receive increases,” it said. FloatMe also repeatedly charges consumers for services without consent, said the complaint. Many consumers have been double-charged for fees, or were charged before the agreed-on repayment date or after canceling their accounts, it said. When consumers try to cancel their memberships, FloatMe “requires them to navigate faulty cancelation mechanisms that are steeped with friction and dark patterns designed to thwart consumers’ attempts to cancel,” it said. The complaint seeks monetary damages and other relief, plus a permanent injunction to prevent future violations of the FTC Act, the Restore Online Shoppers’ Confidence Act and the Equal Credit Opportunity Act.