The FTC is always working to know more about the types of fraud being committed and who spends money on them. Consumers provide us with useful information through periodic surveys that ask them to share the important details about their recent marketplace experiences and a bit about themselves.

Your mobile phone sets your home alarm system. Your tablet schedules the DVR in your bedroom TV. Your smart watch sends your blood pressure levels to your physician. Every day more and more consumer devices communicate with each other over the internet. Some people call this growing network the “Internet of Things.”

FTC staff has a proud history of collaborating with legal services and victims’ rights groups, sharing legal resources and information and training hundreds of advocates throughout the country about a number of important consumer protection issues. Along the way, we’ve gotten many questions about how to help people reduce their risk of identity theft — and how to help them recover from the crime.

The mobile apps market is thriving and lots of app developers are striving to be players in the game. If you’re developing apps for smartphones, tablets or other mobile devices, there are some basic truth-in-advertising standards and privacy principles that apply to you.