FTC Online Guides – FTC Guardian

Most Chrome Extensions Have No Listed Privacy Policy

Allyn Cutts — Fri, 01 Mar 2019 05:08:50 +0000

Most Chrome Extensions Have No Listed Privacy Policy

Chrome extensions can certainly be useful, but many of them have no easily accessible privacy policies, according to new research. The security firm Duo published an analysis of 120,463 extensions and apps in the Chrome Web Store and found that 85 percent of them have no privacy policy listed on the platform.

At the same time, Google has also been taking steps to boost security around third-party extensions to prevent hacking risks.

Of course, many legit Chrome extensions need the ability to read your data from webpages to operate. In return, the extension can correct spelling mistakes as you type, translate the text that appears over a website, or help organize your emails.

Read the full article here.

Here’s How To Make Sure You, Your Business and Website Are FTC & GDPR Compliant

By now it should be clear how important it is for you to be FTC compliant. But how can you do that without spending $7,500-$8,000 or more on Internet Attorneys?

Smart business owners around the world are doing it with the help of FTC Guardian.

FTC Guardian is a service that is 100% focused on helping to keep you get and stay FTC & GDPR compliant and fully protected. And right now, we are offering a free training to give you the knowledge, information, and guidance that you need to stay out of trouble with the Federal Trade Commission and the new GDPR guidelines.

Free Compliance Workshop: Join Chip Cooper, Esq., the #1 FTC Compliance & GDPR trainer in the World, for a one-of-kind, completely free online compliance workshop.

Workshops fill up quickly, so register now.

Here are some of the things you’ll discover on the training:

Real-Life Examples of People Who Didn’t Think They Were At Risk, But Who Got Nailed By The FTC, And Why It Could Happen To You, Too

The 3 Enormous Powers The FTC Has That Can Change Your Life – And Your Family’s Life – Forever!

How to Avoid FTC Claims When Collecting Leads With Optin Forms

3 Privacy Policy Mistakes Every Digital Marketer Is Making, And Why You’re In The FTC Crosshairs.

And Much More…

Remember: legal protection is a massively important part of your business, and it’s one you cannot afford to ignore any longer.

Go here to register for our next FREE training and make your business is FTC compliant today!

Disclaimer: This article is provided for informational purposes only. It’s not legal advice, and no attorney-client relationship is created. Neither the author nor FTC Guardian, Inc. is endorsed by the Federal Trade Commission.

The FTC Is Gunning For Greater Powers To Deal With The Data-Driven Economy

Allyn Cutts — Tue, 04 Dec 2018 10:58:15 +0000

The FTC Is Gunning For Greater Powers To Deal With The Data-Driven Economy

By Allison Schiff

There’s no point passing a comprehensive federal privacy legislation if the main enforcement agency doesn’t have the means to hold feet to the fire.

Specifically, the FTC is looking for targeted rulemaking authority, jurisdiction over nonprofits and common carriers and for the ability to seek civil penalties to discourage unlawful conduct and create the proper deterrents for bad actors.

“There is more and more data collection and our largest firms in the economy are relying heavily on how to monetize that data,” said Democratic Commissioner Rohit Chopra. “It’s a bigger and bigger part of US GDP, and if that is going to grow, the FTC’s resources have to grow commensurately. When cities grow, they hire more cops, and we have to do the same.”

Read the full article here.

Here’s How To Make Sure You, Your Business and Website Are FTC & GDPR Compliant

By now it should be clear how important it is for you to be FTC compliant. But how can you do that without spending $7,500-$8,000 or more on Internet Attorneys?

Smart business owners around the world are doing it with the help of FTC Guardian.

Free Compliance Workshop: Join Chip Cooper, Esq., the #1 FTC Compliance & GDPR trainer in the World, for a one-of-kind, completely free online compliance workshop.

Workshops fill up quickly, so register now.

Here are some of the things you’ll discover on the training:

Real-Life Examples of People Who Didn’t Think They Were At Risk, But Who Got Nailed By The FTC, And Why It Could Happen To You, Too

The 3 Enormous Powers The FTC Has That Can Change Your Life – And Your Family’s Life – Forever!

How to Avoid FTC Claims When Collecting Leads With Optin Forms

3 Privacy Policy Mistakes Every Digital Marketer Is Making, And Why You’re In The FTC Crosshairs.

And Much More…

Remember: legal protection is a massively important part of your business, and it’s one you cannot afford to ignore any longer.

Go here to register for our next FREE training and make your business is FTC compliant today!

OUCH! Did You Know? You Don’t Own Your Website Anymore!

Allyn Cutts — Fri, 06 Jan 2017 21:50:22 +0000

OUCH! Did You Know?

You Don't Own Your Website Anymore!

(Even Though You Paid For It!!)

By Chip Cooper, Esq.

What could be more in your business than ownership?

And what exactly is at the heart of your business – ownership of your valuable intellectual property.

And it involves outsourcing – the hiring of an independent contractor to develop valuable intellectual property for your business, such as:

your website,
your sales page,
your software,
your articles,

These are all examples of what intellectual property attorneys call “copyrightable authorship”.

And if you’re like most businesses, you probably assume that if you pay the contractor to create this stuff, you own it. Right?

Wrong, in most cases, in my experience in the trenches of my full-time Internet law practice. And here’s why.

The “Work Made For Hire Rules”

It’s all about the “work made for hire” rules of the U.S. Copyright Act.

Boiled down to its essence, here’s what the Copyright Act says:

“you will own the copyrights embodied in “copyrightable authorship”, created by your independent contractor (i.e. the person or entity who creates the work product), only if all three of these elements are satisfied:

there is a written “instrument” (typically an agreement or contract),
that is signed by the independent contractor, and
which provides that the work product is a “work made for hire”.

And if any of these three elements is not satisfied, your independent contractor owns the work product, by default.

And that’s the result… even if you pay for it, in full!

All you get is a non-exclusive right to use the work product.

And it’s even questionable if you have rights to modify the work product.

You’d be surprised at how many business owners I see in my Internet law practice who are shocked to discover that they don’t own what they incorrectly assumed to be their valuable intellectual property.

And you’d be even more surprised at the cost in legal fees (and there’s no way to attach a value to the cost of headaches and anxiety involved) for resolving messes regarding ownership.

For example, work made for hire clauses should be in your agreements with contractors, including:

consulting agreements,
development agreements, and
services agreements.

And if you make the mistake of not providing for work made for hire at the beginning of your relationship with a contractor, you’ll need these agreements to “reel in” the copyrights:

a copyright assignment, or
a website ownership and transfer agreement.

So, now you have a better understanding of the old cliché – that ignorance of the law is no excuse!

Life is so much easier if you understand the basic legal rules, plus have the required legal tools and documents at your fingertips.

So, What Do You Do If You’ve Run Afoul of Work Made For Hire?

The short answer is – you need to have the outsourcer sign a copyright assignment in your favor. This will have the effect of transferring the copyrights to you or your business.

If your outsourcer has completed the work, and there will be no future revisions or additions, then a straight forward copyright assignment will work.

However, if the outsourcer makes future revisions or additions, then you will need an additional clause transferring and assigning copyrights to these future works, to become effective automatically upon creation.

Here’s How To Make Sure You, Your Business & Website Is FTC Compliant

By now it should be clear how important it is for you to be FTC compliant. But how can you do that without spending $7,500-$8,000 or more on Internet Attorneys?

Smart business owners around the world are doing it with the help of FTC Guardian.

FTC Guardian is a service that is 100% focused on helping to keep you get and stay FTC compliant and fully protected. And right now, we are offering a free training to give you the knowledge, information, and guidance that you need to stay out of trouble with the Federal Trade Commission.

Free Compliance Workshop: Join Chip Cooper, Esq., the #1 FTC Compliance trainer in the World, for a one-of-kind, completely free online compliance workshop. Workshops fill up quickly, so register now.

Here are some of the things you’ll discover on the training:

Real-Life Examples of People Who Didn’t Think They Were At Risk, But Who Got Nailed By The FTC, And Why It Could Happen To You, Too

The 3 Enormous Powers The FTC Has That Can Change Your Life – And Your Family’s Life – Forever!

How to Avoid FTC Claims When Collecting Leads With Optin Forms

3 Privacy Policy Mistakes Every Digital Marketer Is Making, And Why You’re In The FTC Crosshairs.

And Much More…

Remember: legal protection is a massively important part of your business, and it’s one you cannot afford to ignore any longer.

Go here to register for our next FREE training and make your business is FTC compliant today!

FTC to Host Workshop on Online Lead Generation

Allyn Cutts — Tue, 13 Oct 2015 19:50:47 +0000

FTC to Host Workshop on Online Lead Generation

The FTC sure keeps themselves busy! Last month was a workshop on Homeopathic Medicine & Advertising, this month's is about Lead Generation and in January will be PrivacyCon.

The FTC has increasingly focused its attention on the online lead generation industry by bringing enforcement actions against payday loan lead generators (lead generators alleged to have engaged in advertising that lacked disclosures required by the Truth in Lending Act), mortgage lead generators (lead generators alleged to have deceptively advertised mortgage products by misrepresenting their terms and conditions), and even companies that use lead generators to subvert telemarketing laws (a home security company alleged to have bought phone numbers from lead generator companies that made illegal robocalls to homeowners in violation of telemarketing laws). Following this trend, the FTC recently announced its upcoming workshop, Follow the Lead: An FTC Workshop on Lead Generation. The workshop will be held on October 30, 2015, at the FTC’s D.C. Office, located at 400 7^th Street SW, Washington, DC 20024.

Lead generation is the practice of identifying or cultivating consumer interest in a product or service and distributing this information to third parties. Leads can be created for purposes such as list building, e-newsletter list acquisition, or sales leads. Lead generators track consumers’ Internet inquiries regarding specific products or services, including mortgages, educational programs, or payday loans. Often consumers will include sensitive personal and/or financial information in these inquiries, which lead generators then distribute to third parties.

The workshop will focus on “the consumer protection issues raised by the practices of the lead generation industry, and what consumers and businesses should know and do to address them,” including the following topics:

How online lead generation works and its variations, depending on the industry.

What types of lead generation conduct may be unlawful under the FTC act’s prohibition against unfair or deceptive practices.

Best practices for entities that generate and sell consumer leads.

How consumers can avoid unlawful conduct in the online marketplace.

via FTC to Host Workshop on Online Lead Generation | Data Privacy Monitor

Here’s How To Make Sure You,
Your Business & Website Is FTC Compliant

By now it should be clear how important it is for you to be FTC compliant. But how can you do that without spending $7,500-$8,000 or more on Internet Attorneys?

Smart business owners around the world are doing it with the help of FTC Guardian.

The training is titled: 3 Tragic (Legal) Privacy Policy List Building Mistakes That Can Get You In Hot Water With The FTC Today – Resulting In Your Business Being Shut Down… And How To Solve It!

Here are some of the things you’ll discover on the training:

Real-Life Examples of People Who Didn’t Think They Were At Risk, But Who Got Nailed By The FTC, And Why It Could Happen To You, Too

Why 2014 Was a Significant Year For Online Businesses, And Why You Should Be Worried!

The 3 Enormous Powers The FTC Has That Can Change Your Life – And Your Family’s Life – Forever!

How to Avoid FTC Claims When Collecting Leads With Optin Forms

3 Privacy Policy Mistakes Every Digital Marketer Is Making, And Why You're In The FTC Crosshairs.

And Much More…

Remember: legal protection is a massively important part of your business, and it’s one you cannot afford to ignore any longer.

Go here to register for our next FREE training and make your business is FTC compliant today!