Consumer Protection

On Oct. 28, the Federal Trade Commission announced that it is increasing enforcement to protect the public from the use of "dark patterns" by companies on the internet. So, what are dark patterns? If you're not familiar with the term, there's a good chance that you're familiar with their effects.

American diners love their chicken. Consumption of chicken has surpassed that of red meat and pork and for good reason: Chicken is healthier and generally cheaper. According to the U.S. Department of Justice, however, some diners have been paying too much for their chicken. In 2019, DOJ began uncovering evidence of a conspiracy to fix prices on broiler chickens, and in June and October last year, the agency filed charges against several chicken-industry executives.

If you ask someone during these pandemic days if they miss air travel, you're likely to get a mixed response. It will probably be something along the lines of: “I miss travel. But I don't miss the airlines." Or: “I like to see other parts of the world. But I don't like having to be treated like an infant in order to get there." We will welcome the return of normal life someday, of course.

If you live in an area of the United States where winter brings heaping mounds of snow, you know that it is essential to clear the white stuff from your roof before spring rains arrive. Clogged gutters, or even water backing up into your house, are not fun to deal with. But for many people, climbing onto the roof to shovel snow and break up ice dams or buying a roof rake to remove the snow from the ground are not an option.

As winter tightens its icy grip, the prospect of having your heat turned off can be frightening. But if you can't pay your heat or electric bills, at some point that's precisely what utilities can do. Fortunately for those most in need, however, most states have laws that prohibit these companies from pulling the plug. But these are not blanket protections. Typically, states limit this relief to the elderly, the disabled, and low-income people.

The Child's Online Privacy Protect Act, or COPPA, was passed in 2012, aimed at protecting the personal information of minors on the internet. Among its provisions, companies are prohibited from collecting children's personal information without their parents' consent. According to a recent settlement announced with the Federal Trade Commission, YouTube had been violating that law while tracking viewers of child-directed content, then selling that user information to advertisers.