Monday saw a trifecta of trouble for three very different tech companies, although one stood out for the sheer volume it is being sued for.
Crypto platform BlockFi and weight-loss app Noom have agreed to legal settlements worth tens of millions of dollars over allegations that they neglected securities regulations and misled customers, respectively . But Facebook parent Meta stole the show when it was hit by a Texas state lawsuit seeking hundreds of billions dollars in civil penalties.
From weight watchers to poachers
Subscription weight-loss app Noom, which forecast revenue of $600 million last year and has 45 million users, has reached a $62 million preliminary settlement in US federal court. Manhattan. The company is accused of tricking customers into taking ‘risk-free’ trials that were forcibly converted into costly and hard-to-cancel renewal plans – the company is said to have taken eight months of non-refundable payments, until at $199, from each customer. If approved by the court, Noom will have to pay $56 million in cash and offer $6 million in subscription credits to customers.
Regarding Crypto Paperwork
In the first enforcement action by US regulators on cryptocurrency lending, crypto platform BlockFi agreed to pay $100 million in penalties to the Securities and Exchange Commission and 32 US states. Regulators alleged that the company’s BlockFi interest accounts, which allow users to earn returns on Bitcoin, Ethereum and USDT, were unregistered securities and that BlockFi was not registered as an investment firm. . Coinbase canceled a similar program, called Lend, last year after the SEC threatened to sue.
facebook permanent face problem
Meta’s biggest social media platform, Facebook, announced it was ending its controversial use of facial recognition technology last year, but that wasn’t enough to stop Texas authorities from monitoring the company with their lasso. On Monday, State Attorney General Ken Paxton filed a lawsuit against Meta for violating Texas privacy laws and “covertly harvesting Texans’ most personal information — photos and videos — for his own benefit”. Facebook – which settled a $650 million class action lawsuit in Illinois over its facial recognition technology – said the lawsuit in Texas, which is also seeking hundreds of millions in damages, is “without merit”.
