News

How Can Consumers Protect Their Personal Data?

The Utah Consumer Privacy Act (UCPA), a law that grants consumers several important rights regarding their personal data, became effective December 31, 2023. It is important that Utah consumers understand their rights under the new law and how they can exercise them. At the same time, businesses that operate in Utah must also understand their responsibilities under this new law....
January 2, 2024
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Consumer Protection
Department of Commerce

Utah sues Meta for child addiction harm and deceiving parents about dangers of Facebook and Instagram 

SALT LAKE CITY – Utah Gov. Spencer J. Cox and Attorney General Sean D. Reyes today announced a lawsuit against Meta Platforms, Inc. and its subsidiary Instagram, LLC, over their flagship social media products, Facebook and Instagram. The state alleges that the social media giant has violated the Utah Consumer Sales Practices Act by designing the platforms to trap children in excessive, harmful use that causes serious mental health issues. Meta also deceived parents and young users about the safety of using Instagram and Facebook....
October 24, 2023
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Consumer Protection
Department of Commerce
News and Announcements

Utah sues TikTok over child addiction harm, targets “enmeshment” with its China-based parent company

SALT LAKE CITY, UTAH — Today, Utah Governor Spencer J. Cox and Attorney General Sean D. Reyes announced a lawsuit against TikTok. After extensive investigation, the state alleges the social media giant illegally baits children into addictive and unhealthy use, blatantly misrepresents the app’s safety, and deceptively portrays itself as independent of its China-based parent company ByteDance....
October 11, 2023
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Consumer Protection
Department of Commerce
News and Announcements

Utah and Law Enforcers Nationwide Announce Enforcement Sweep to Stem the Tide of Illegal Telemarketing Calls to U.S. Consumers

SALT LAKE CITY— The Utah Division of Consumer Protection, a division within the Utah Department of Commerce, along with the Federal Trade Commission and other law enforcement partners nationwide, which includes attorneys general from all 50 states and the District of Columbia, announced a new crackdown on illegal telemarketing targeting operations responsible for billions of calls to U.S. consumers....
July 18, 2023
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Consumer Protection
News and Announcements

Multi-State Task Force Sues Avid Telecom Over Illegal Robocalls

SALT LAKE CITY, UT – Utah Attorney General Sean D. Reyes, representing the Utah Division of Consumer Protection, sued Avid Telecom, its owner Michael D. Lansky, and Vice President Stacey S. Reeves today for allegedly initiating and facilitating billions of illegal robocalls to millions of people and violating the Telephone Consumer Protection Act, the Telemarketing Sales Rule, and other federal and state telemarketing and consumer laws. Avid Telecom sent or transmitted more than 7.5 billion calls to telephone numbers on the National Do Not Call Registry between December 2018 and January 2023 – more than 72 million of which went to numbers in Utah....
May 23, 2023
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Consumer Protection
News and Announcements

FTC and Utah Division of Consumer Protection Suit Leads to Largest Consumer Settlement in Utah History

SALT LAKE CITY, UT – The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and Utah Department of Commerce’s Division of Consumer Protection (DCP) have reached a court-ordered settlement with Response Marketing Group, LLC and its principals, who have agreed to pay $15 million and are banned from selling money-making opportunities. The suit brought by DCP and the FTC alleged that Response Marketing used false promises to sell expensive real estate investment training programs. Additionally, two real estate celebrities, Scott Yancey and Dean R. Graziosi, endorsed the training and agreed to pay $1.7 million....
May 22, 2023
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Consumer Protection
News and Announcements