Kathleen Benway

About Kathleen Benway

Kathleen Benway is a partner with Alston & Bird’s Litigation & Trial Practice Group. She concentrates her practice on government investigations and corporate compliance related to consumer protection issues, including privacy, security, advertising, and marketing. She is a former chief of staff at the FTC’s Bureau of Consumer Protection.

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FTC Cracks Down on Messaging App Operator on Child Data Exploitation

October 2, 2025 By Kathleen Benway, Alex Brown, Maki DePalo, Jennifer Everett and Lili Song

On September 29, 2025, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) announced a legal action against the operator of the anonymous messaging app Sendit and its CEO for violations of multiple consumer protection and privacy laws. The complaint, filed in the United States District Court for the Central District of California by the Department of Justice at […]

FTC Approves New Data Breach Notification Requirement for Non-Banking Financial Institutions

October 31, 2023 By Kim Peretti, Kate Hanniford, Kathleen Benway and Lance Taubin

On October 27, 2023, the FTC approved an amendment to the Safeguards Rule (the “Amendment”) requiring that non-banking financial institutions notify the FTC in the event of a defined “Notification Event” where customer information of 500 or more individuals was subject to unauthorized acquisition. The Amendment becomes effective 180 days after publication in the […]

FTC Launches Investigation into Creator of ChatGPT

July 25, 2023 By Kim Peretti, Kathleen Benway, Daniel Felz and Kristen Bartolotta

In mid-July, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) reportedly opened an investigation into OpenAI, the maker of ChatGPT, sending the company an extensive Civil Investigative Demand (CID). While FTC investigations are normally non-public, the Washington Post published what appears to be part of the CID sent from the FTC to OpenAI. This investigation comes on the […]

FTC Seeks Comments on a New Verifiable Parental Consent Mechanism Under COPPA

July 24, 2023 By Kathleen Benway, Maki DePalo and Hyun Jai Oh

On July 19, 2023, the Federal Trade Commission (the “FTC”) announced that it is seeking comment on an application for a new verifiable parental consent mechanism under the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (“COPPA”). The application, submitted jointly by the Entertainment Software Rating Board, Yoti, and SuperAwesome (collectively, the “Applicants”), requests the FTC to approve […]

HHS and FTC Fire a Warning Shot at Healthcare Companies Using Online Tracking Technologies

July 20, 2023 By Kathleen Benway, Daniel Felz and Sara Pullen

On July 20, 2023, the Office for Civil Rights (“OCR”) of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (“HHS”), and the Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”) published a joint letter sent to approximately 130 hospital systems and telehealth providers. The FTC/OCR letter warns that certain online tracking technologies that “may be present” on the recipients’ […]