Penalty Amount
$930,000
The FTC finalized orders requiring CMG Media Corporation (doing business as Cox Media Group), MindSift LLC, and 1010 Digital Works LLC to pay a total of $930,000 for falsely claiming they offered an AI-powered service that could target ads based on conversations captured from consumers' smart devices, and that consumers had opted into such targeting. The orders also prohibit the companies from making misrepresentations about their advertising services, voice data collection, and consumer consent.
The companies must pay a total of $930,000 (CMG $880,000, MindSift $25,000, 1010 Digital Works $25,000) to provide redress to affected customers. They are also prohibited from making any misrepresentation about the qualities or features of their advertising or marketing services, the collection and use of voice data, whether consumers have consented to such collection, and the geographic targeting capabilities of their services.
In-house legal teams should review vendor and customer agreements related to marketing and advertising services, particularly those involving data collection from smart devices or voice data. Contracts should include accurate representations about data collection practices, require explicit consumer consent mechanisms, and include warranties that services comply with the FTC Act. Additionally, agreements with marketing partners should contain indemnification clauses for false or misleading claims about data collection or targeting capabilities, and should specify that any AI-powered features are accurately described.
Entity
CMG Media Corporation
Industry
AdvertisingOfficial Press Release
https://www.ftc.gov/news-events/news/press-releases/2026/08/ftc-finalizes-orders-cox-media-group-two-other-firms-settling-charges-they-deceived-customers-about
CMGComplaintwithoutsignatures
https://www.ftc.gov/system/files/ftc_gov/pdf/CMGComplaintwithoutsignatures.pdf
Mindsift Complaint withoutsignatures
https://www.ftc.gov/system/files/ftc_gov/pdf/Mindsift-Complaint-withoutsignatures.pdf
1010digitalworksllccomplaintwithoutsignatures
https://www.ftc.gov/system/files/ftc_gov/pdf/1010digitalworksllccomplaintwithoutsignatures.pdf
2423029c4838cmgfinalorder
https://www.ftc.gov/system/files/ftc_gov/pdf/2423029c4838cmgfinalorder.pdf
mindsift do final
https://www.ftc.gov/system/files/ftc_gov/pdf/mindsift-do-final.pdf
1010digital do final
https://www.ftc.gov/system/files/ftc_gov/pdf/1010digital-do-final.pdf
Federal Trade Commission Enforcement Page
https://www.ftc.gov/enforcement
"CMG Media Corporation, which does business as Cox Media Group"
"pay a total of $930,000"
"CMG must pay $880,000 while both MindSift and 1010 Digital Works must each pay $25,000"
"would itself violate the FTC Act"
"deceived customers by falsely claiming to offer an AI-powered service that could target localized ads based on conversations captured from consumers’ smart devices and that consumers had opted into such targeting."
"the marketing service wasn’t based on voice data, and consumers hadn’t opted into this service."
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$1.9M
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