The FTC’s Policy Statements, Reports, and Warning Letters- Why Are There So Many?

The FTC has long used policy statements, public workshops, reports, and warning letters to influence the marketplace and communicate its thinking about key issues and aspects of its mission. Examples from my tenure at the FTC include workshops and reports on big data, data brokers, mobile payments, and the internet of things; policy statements on deceptively formatting advertisements and homeopathic drug claims; and warning letters to a range of companies making health claims (see here, here, and here, for instance).