The Green Guides do not constitute binding rules or regulations, but FTC will expect marketers to utilize them when designing advertisements, and will undoubtedly refer to them when bringing enforcement actions under Section 5 of the Federal Trade Commission Act.

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The practices of the major wireless carriers alleged herein as they relate to the poor security of the smartphones sold to consumers constitute deceptive and unfair business practices subject to review by the FTC under section 5 of The Federal Trade Commission Act.

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But using it in the life-insurance application process would "raise questions" about whether the data would be subject to the federal Fair Credit Reporting Act, says Rebecca Kuehn of the Federal Trade Commission's division of privacy and identity protection.

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