Penalty Amount
$7,000,000
Consumers Affected
3,200,000
The FTC settled with telehealth firm Cerebral, Inc. for sharing sensitive consumer mental health data with third parties like LinkedIn, Snapchat, and TikTok for advertising without proper consent, employing sloppy security practices, and misleading consumers about cancellation policies. Cerebral must pay over $7 million (with $2 million due upfront), is permanently banned from using health information for most advertising, must implement a comprehensive privacy program, delete unnecessary data, and provide easy cancellation.
Cerebral must pay $7 million total ($5.1 million for consumer refunds and a $10 million suspended civil penalty after a $2 million payment). The company is permanently banned from using or disclosing personal and health information for most marketing/advertising without consent, must implement a comprehensive privacy and data security program, delete most consumer data not needed for treatment/payment/operations, provide an easy cancellation mechanism, post a corrective notice on its website, and face ongoing monitoring and reporting requirements.
In-house legal teams should review all vendor agreements where Cerebral shares data with third parties (e.g., LinkedIn, Snapchat, TikTok) for advertising, focusing on data sharing clauses and consent requirements. Customer agreements, including terms of service and privacy policies, must be examined for provisions on health data usage, advertising consent, cancellation policies, and data security standards. Data processing agreements should be checked for compliance with health data protection. Required changes include adding explicit opt-in consent for using health information in advertising, prohibiting such use entirely per the order, enhancing security measures, ensuring easy cancellation processes, and updating data retention and breach notification clauses to align with the settlement.
Entity
Cerebral, Inc.
Also known as: Cerebral
Industry
HealthcareOfficial Press Release
https://www.ftc.gov/news-events/news/press-releases/2024/04/proposed-ftc-order-will-prohibit-telehealth-firm-cerebral-using-or-disclosing-sensitive-data
cerebral joint stipulation order permanent injunction
https://www.ftc.gov/system/files/ftc_gov/pdf/cerebral_joint_stipulation_order_permanent_injunction.pdf
2223087cerebralcomplaint
https://www.ftc.gov/system/files/ftc_gov/pdf/2223087cerebralcomplaint.pdf
Federal Trade Commission Enforcement Page
https://www.ftc.gov/enforcement
"Cerebral, Inc. has agreed to an order"
"require it to pay $7 million"
"pay more than $7 million"
"disclosed consumers’ sensitive personal health information and other sensitive data to third parties for advertising purposes"
"failed to deploy adequate safeguards for the sensitive data collected from consumers and engaged in sloppy security practices"
"failed to clearly disclose all material terms of Cerebral’s cancellation policies before charging consumers"
The FTC rescinded its 2021 Policy Statement on Breaches by Health Apps and Other Connected Devices, which had purported to apply the Health Breach Notification Rule to health apps and connected devices that collect consumer health information. The rescission follows the Commission's 2024 update to the Health Breach Notification Rule, which already covers health apps and connected devices like fitness trackers, and implements an executive order directing agencies to eliminate obsolete guidance documents. No company was charged or penalized; this is a deregulatory action.
$12.0M
The FTC alleged that payment processor Humboldt Merchant Services knowingly processed payments for more than 1,000 shell merchant entities serving as fronts for fraudulent companies engaged in unauthorized billing scams, despite red flags including chargeback rates nearly 10 times higher than card-brand thresholds. Under the proposed stipulated order filed in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan, Humboldt will pay $12 million for consumer redress and is permanently banned from processing payments for merchants with a heightened risk of potential fraud.
$4.8M
The FTC charged Canada-based payment processor Nuvei Corporation and its subsidiaries with knowingly processing payments for fraudulent merchants, including more than $30 million in payments for the Reimage tech support scam from 2017 to 2023, as well as merchants making false earnings claims and impersonating government tax authorities. Under the stipulated order filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Arizona, Nuvei will pay $4.85 million for consumer redress, is banned from serving tech support telemarketers, and must implement robust merchant screening and chargeback monitoring practices. Note: this is a payments-fraud facilitation action under the FTC Act and Telemarketing Sales Rule, not a data privacy violation.
The FTC announced a seven-day extension of the public comment period on its proposed enforcement policy statement regarding personalized pricing, pushing the deadline from Sept. 18, 2026 to Sept. 25, 2026. Personalized pricing refers to using personal data to set prices based on what the company believes an individual consumer is willing to spend. This is a procedural announcement about draft agency guidance, not an enforcement action against any company, and no entity was named, no violation found, and no penalty imposed.
Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser joined the FTC and 22 state attorneys general in filing a lawsuit against Amazon for manipulating the auctions used to set advertising prices, replacing actual auction results with higher prices since 2019 and overcharging nearly 1.2 million U.S. advertising customers. The FTC estimates total improper surcharges from 2018 to 2026 exceed $20 billion, with costs ultimately passed to shoppers through higher prices. The states seek a permanent injunction and monetary relief; no penalty has been imposed yet as this is a newly filed complaint.
$930K
The FTC finalized orders requiring CMG Media Corporation (doing business as Cox Media Group), MindSift LLC, and 1010 Digital Works LLC to pay a total of $930,000 for falsely claiming they offered an AI-powered service that could target ads based on conversations captured from consumers' smart devices, and that consumers had opted into such targeting. The orders also prohibit the companies from making misrepresentations about their advertising services, voice data collection, and consumer consent.