The FTC’s Proposed Rule Banning Deceptive Reviews and Testimonials
Negative Online Reviews and Reputation Management: Tips for Health Care Practices and Providers
PODCAST: Williams Mullen's Trending Now: An IP Podcast - Advertising & Customer Engagement in the Digital Age - Customer Reviews and Response
How to Find the Identity of an Anonymous Author Online
II-36- Holiday Party Tips, the 2018/2019 Federal Regulatory Agenda, and Noteworthy Cases On Suing and Being Sued
What do ransomware, Yelp, and website tracking technologies all have in common? They are troubling areas of concern for HIPAA covered entities and business associates, according to one official from the federal Office for...more
Yelp is an incredibly important tool for consumers to gather information online about all types of businesses. While the general perception has always been that Yelp is a site to look up restaurants, the platform has expanded...more
Unhappy consumers, including patients, are free to express dissatisfaction with services they receive from providers on popular social media or online review platforms, such as Yelp and Google. At least in the healthcare...more
I don’t know how to say it any more clearly. Somehow, medical and dental practices continue to get roped into responding to negative patient reviews on Yelp, Google, or elsewhere online, and posting any identifying...more
After a few quiet weeks, last week produced a number of stories that caught our attention and made it into our weekly Update, including two interesting stories on customer reviews. Enjoy....more
If you own a small business, someone has likely posted an online review of your company and its goods or services. From Yelp to TripAdvisor to Angie’s List to any number of websites tailored to particular industries or...more
A recent complaint filed by the Federal Trade Commission serves as a perfect illustration of why one should not fire off a response to something on social media when angry. The diablo (Spanish for devil) in this article's...more
A recent case involving a mortgage broker who revealed personal financial information on Yelp brought a modern perspective to the scope of FCRA protections. In United States of America, on behalf of the Federal Trade...more
It is well known that small businesses often live or die by word-of-mouth advertising. This is true even more so today as more and more of U.S. consumers consult online reviews and social media before patronizing a local...more
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) struck a deal with a mortgage broker who revealed personal information about consumers after they posted negative reviews of his service on Yelp....more
FBI Warns of Retaliatory Cyber-Attack from Iran - The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is warning of a heightened likelihood of Iranian cyber-attacks following the escalation of tension between the U.S. and Iran. This...more
Virtually every company that provides goods or services to the public will, at some point, have a negative review posted online by a dissatisfied consumer. While such reviews are understandably upsetting, a company should not...more
Health care providers should take heed of the $10,000 settlement announced on October 2, 2019 between the U.S. Department of Health and Human Service (HHS) Office for Civil Rights (OCR) and a small dental practice based on...more
Elite Dental Associates, Dallas (Elite Dental) and the Office for Civil Rights (OCR) at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) entered into a $10,000 no-fault settlement agreement and two year corrective...more
Healthcare providers face a dilemma when patients post complaints or make other statements on social media. Just because a patient has made certain information public does not mean that the provider can also post protected...more
When healthcare providers are subject to a bad review on Yelp! or similar customer-review websites and apps, it can be difficult to hold back and not provide a response or at least attempt to clarify the situation....more
Are your employees instructed on the proper (and improper) use of social media? Does your organization have policies and provide training on the appropriate handling of sensitive information? A recent United States Department...more
On October 2, 2019, the Office for Civil Rights (OCR) within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) announced that it had reached a $10,000 monetary settlement with a Dallas-based dental practice to settle...more
No business likes to receive bad reviews on Yelp® or anywhere else in social media. When they do, some feel the need to respond to clarify or rebut the reviews, but they must do so carefully....more
The Pennsylvania Restaurant and Lodging Association provides many benefits to its hospitality industry members. One of those benefits is access to its interesting and useful webinar series. This month’s webinar “Five Star...more
Picture this scenario. You are having a great week. You nail your presentation at the industry conference, your proposal was accepted by the client you’ve been chasing for months, and your article was just published in a...more
Sales Principles Introduced for Online Booking Sites in the UK - ("Hotel Booking Sites Get Consumer-law Compliance Principles from CMA," MLex, March 1, 2019) (subscription required) By September 1, 2019, hotel booking...more
A California attorney and her law firm filed a petition on October 18, 2018, asking the Supreme Court of the United States (“SCOTUS”) to review the California Supreme Court’s ruling that reversed an injunction that would have...more
In a closely-followed dispute, the California Supreme Court vacated a lower court order, based upon a default judgment in a defamation action, which had directed Yelp, Inc. (“Yelp”), a non-party to the original suit, to take...more
Despite a recent trend indicating that it might be on life support, immunity under the Communications Decency Act (CDA) remains alive and kicking, at least in California. Based on Section 230 of the CDA, on July 2, 2018, the...more