Latest news with #MichiganConsumerProtectionAct
CBS News
01-05-2025
- Business
- CBS News
Michigan AG Dana Nessel files lawsuit against Roku for allegedly violating children's data privacy laws
Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel has filed a lawsuit against Roku, Inc., claiming the company violates the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) and the Michigan Consumer Protection Act. The lawsuit, filed on April 29 in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan, accused the streaming platform of collecting and allowing third parties to collect the personal information of children without obtaining parental consent or the required notice. Nessel alleges that Roku does not offer parents the ability to create children's profiles. In her lawsuit, Nessel claims that "Roku systematically collects, processes, and discloses the personal information of children, including their locations, voice recordings, IP addresses, and persistent identifiers that track children's browsing histories on Roku and across the internet," which are categories protected under COPPA. The lawsuit alleges that Roku allows third-party channels to collect the personal information of children to increase advertising revenue and attract content providers to its streaming platform. "Roku has blatantly violated children's privacy laws, illegally exposing kids across Michigan to invasive data collection practices," Nessel said. "We cannot allow companies to jeopardize the security of our children's personal information. My office remains committed to holding accountable companies that violate the rights of Michigan families and seek to profit at the expense of children's safety and privacy." Roku issued the following statement in response to Nessel's lawsuit: "Roku strongly disagrees with the allegations in today's filing, which do not reflect how our services work or our efforts to protect viewer privacy. We plan to challenge these inaccurate claims and look forward to demonstrating our commitment to trust and compliance. Roku respects and values the privacy of our users. We do not use or disclose children's personal information for targeted advertising or any other purpose prohibited by law, nor do we partner with third-party web trackers or data brokers to sell children's personal information. We take the responsibility of creating a safe and trusted online environment seriously. Our viewers rely on Roku for engaging content, and we take pride in connecting our viewers to the streaming content they love every day." Nessel is asking for Roku to stop its alleged illegal data collection and disclosure practices, require the company to comply with state and federal law and recover civil penalties, damages and restitution for the company's years of alleged misconduct.
Yahoo
30-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Michigan Attorney General warns of price gouging amid ice storm aftermath in Northern Michigan
LANSING, Mich. (WLNS)– Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel urges northern Michigan residents to watch out for price gouging and deceptive business practices amid the recent ice storm. Nessel notes that some companies might exploit the emergency by inflating prices or engaging in unfair business practices. 'Bad actors often see emergencies as an opportunity to take advantage of people in need,' Nessel said in a news release sent to 6 News. 'We need residents to be our eyes and ears and report potential price gouging or deceptive business practices. Filing a complaint with our office can protect your community against these scammers.' Nessel also warns that tree services could exploit residents. Tree services are not licensed, and customers should vet them thoroughly and request written quotes to show the total project cost before signing any agreements. According to Nessel, Michigan law prohibits service providers from charging prices that are 'grossly in excess' of what others are charging for similar services. The Michigan Consumer Protection Act (MCPA) says illegal practices include: Gross discrepancies between the oral representations of the seller and the written agreement covering the same transaction or failure of the other party to the transaction to provide the promised benefits. Charging the consumer a price that is grossly in excess of the price at which similar property or services are sold. Causing coercion and duress as the result of the time and nature of a sales presentation. Making a representation of fact or statement of fact material to the transaction such that a person reasonably believes the represented or suggested state of affairs to be other than it actually is. mcl-act-331-of-1976Download Anyone could file a complaint about to the Michigan Attorney General's Office. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
29-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Roku Violated Child Privacy Laws, Michigan Attorney General Alleges in Lawsuit
Roku has illegally collected personal information of children without the required notice and without obtaining parental consent, the Michigan attorney general alleged in a lawsuit filed Tuesday. In a statement, Roku said it 'strongly disagrees' with the 'inaccurate claims' in the lawsuit. Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel filed the lawsuit against Roku in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan. The suit alleges that the streaming platform company violates the federal Children's Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) and the Michigan Consumer Protection Act. More from Variety CNBC Strikes Distribution Deals With Apple, Roku for CNBC+ Sony Pictures Entertainment CEO Ravi Ahuja Resigns From Roku Board 1982 Milwaukee Brewers Documentary 'Just a Bit Outside' Acquired by Roku 'Roku has blatantly violated children's privacy laws, illegally exposing kids across Michigan to invasive data collection practices,' Nessel, a Democrat, said in a statement. 'We cannot allow companies to jeopardize the security of our children's personal information. My office remains committed to holding accountable companies that violate the rights of Michigan families and seek to profit at the expense of children's safety and privacy.' Roku said it will challenge the lawsuit. 'Roku strongly disagrees with the allegations in today's filing, which do not reflect how our services work or our efforts to protect viewer privacy,' the company said. 'We plan to challenge these inaccurate claims and look forward to demonstrating our commitment to trust and compliance.' The company's statement continued, 'Roku respects and values the privacy of our users. We do not use or disclose children's personal information for targeted advertising or any other purpose prohibited by law, nor do we partner with third-party web trackers or data brokers to sell children's personal information. We take the responsibility of creating a safe and trusted online environment seriously. Our viewers rely on Roku for engaging content, and we take pride in connecting our viewers to the streaming content they love every day.' According to the Michigan AG's lawsuit, Roku (unlike some competitors) does not offer parents the option to create children's profiles, 'subjecting both parents and children to many of the same data collection practices.' The lawsuit alleges that Roku systematically collects, processes and discloses the personal information of children, including their locations, voice recordings, IP addresses and persistent identifiers that track children's browsing histories on Roku and across the internet. All of these are categories of personal information protected under COPPA, according to the Michigan AG's office. The lawsuit further alleges that Roku enables third-party channels to collect children's personal information to 'attract content providers to its platform and increase advertising revenue.' In addition, Roku is alleged to have enhanced its collection and monetization of children's personal information through partnerships with third-party web trackers and data brokers, 'some of which have been sued by the FTC for tracking individuals' locations,' according to the Michigan attorney general. Roku also 'actively misleads parents about its collection of their children's personal information, and it sows confusion about parents' rights to protect their children's personal information,' the lawsuit alleges. The attorney general's lawsuit seeks 'to stop Roku's alleged illegal data collection and disclosure practices, to require Roku to comply with federal and state law, and to recover damages, restitution, and civil penalties for Roku's years of alleged misconduct,' according to the Michigan AG. A copy of the lawsuit is available at this link. Best of Variety What's Coming to Netflix in May 2025 New Movies Out Now in Theaters: What to See This Week What's Coming to Disney+ in May 2025
Yahoo
25-03-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Former CFPB director joins Nessel in laying out ‘pernicious' impact of Trump order to close agency
Former Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Director Rohit Chopra speaks at a press conference with Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel in Lansing, Mich., on March 24, 2025. (Photo by Andrew Roth/Michigan Advance) Attorney General Dana Nessel warned Monday that Michigan consumers would be left without protections if the administration of President Donald Trump is successful in gutting the federal Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. Because court rulings in 1999 and 2007 significantly restricted the state's ability to defend consumers from deception and price gouging under the Michigan Consumer Protection Act, Nessel said Michigan residents are reliant on the federal investigators at the CFPB. 'Unfortunately, my office can now no longer rely upon this once dependable and powerful partner to protect Michigan consumers,' Nessel said. 'Their decision to strangle the CFPB has a particularly pernicious impact for Michigan consumers, who don't have the same state-level consumer protections that their neighbor states do.' Nessel is one of nearly two dozen state attorneys general who filed amicus briefs last month asking a federal judge to block the Trump administration from defunding the CFPB after the administration told employees to stay at home and refrain from doing any work. According to a report released by the Center for American Progress in 2023, the CFPB took action on more than 90,000 complaints from Michigan residents. Former CFPB Director Rohit Chopra, who Trump fired in February, said at the press conference that 'the return on investment is a model of government efficiency.' The agency, which is tasked with overseeing the financial services and products used by everyday Americans, was created after the 2008 collapse of the U.S. banking system. Chopra warned that dismantling the agency could create the conditions for that to happen again, noting that states do not have as much power to come after big banks. 'Defunding this law enforcement does nothing to protect citizens, and only creates the conditions for another financial crisis,' Chopra said. He said the agency is essential for coordinating among states and ensuring that any gains for consumers are felt nationwide. 'Federal law enforcement helps get money back for everybody,' Chopra said. 'I don't know if it's efficient for there to be 50 different lawsuits against those firms or 50 different investigations.' But Chopra said the dismantling of the CFPB has introduced 'new energy' in state governments to strengthen their own consumer protection laws. State Rep. Kelly Breen (D-Novi) said Democrats in the Michigan Legislature plan to reintroduce a package of bills to restore some powers to the attorney general under the Michigan Consumer Protection Act, and a case before the Michigan Supreme Court seeks to overturn the previous rulings that limited the law. 'Everyone is noticing that if federal law enforcement essentially rolls over and plays dead, the states are going to have to flex their muscles to make sure that their own neighborhoods, cities and towns are not harmed,' Chopra said. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX
CBS News
04-03-2025
- Business
- CBS News
More than 10,000 consumer complaints submitted last year to Michigan Attorney General's office
Online purchase disputes, landlord/tenant matters and debt collection concerns are among the most common complaints that Michigan residents made to the state Attorney General's Consumer Protection Team during 2024. Attorney General Dana Nessel and her department provided that information in a press release issued Monday to bring attention to National Consumer Protection Week, which is March 2-8. The state's Consumer Protection Team works with the organizations and agencies such as the Better Business Bureau, the Federal Trade Commission and AARP to explain common scams, data breaches and consumer-related issues to Michigan residents. Each year, the team receives more than 10,000 written complaints and more than 20,000 phone calls on such matters. Violations that fall under the Michigan Consumer Protection Act often affect consumers financially in terms of money lost because expected services and products were not received. During 2024, the Consumer Protection Team was able to recover $1.9 million for Michigan consumers and businesses through mediation, settlements and refunds. Most of the written complaints to state officials generally fell into 10 categories: Internet: Online purchases, computer communications, technology, internet services. Retail: Late deliveries, products never delivered, defective items. Motor vehicle: Auto repair shops, car rentals, car dealers. Credit/financial concerns: Debt collection, credit reporting, credit repair, payday lending, mortgage brokering. Personal services: Dating services, beauty companies, fitness facilities, spas, home security, tax preparation services. Health service providers: Doctors, dentists, hospitals, medical clinics. Landlord/tenant: Apartment owners, property management companies, mobile home parks and operators, condominium associations. Fuel/energy: Utility companies, gas stations, propane providers. Contractors: Residential construction services, snow removal, landscaping, plumbing, heating and ventilation services.
