What are the FTC’s public databases and how can consumers search for complaints or enforcement actions against a specific company?
Executive summary
The Federal Trade Commission publishes several public data resources and interactive dashboards that let the public explore aggregated consumer complaint trends, Do Not Call/robocall reports, and tables of enforcement activity, while more detailed complaint records live in the Consumer Sentinel Network, a secure database available only to law enforcement [1] [2] [3]. Consumers seeking complaints or enforcement actions tied to a specific company should use the FTC’s public “Explore Data” and Data & Visualizations pages for interactive dashboards and datasets, and the FTC’s Cases and Proceedings and Competition Enforcement Database for formal enforcement records [1] [4] [5] [6].
1. What public FTC databases and dashboards exist for consumers to consult
The FTC’s public-facing tools include the Explore Data / Data and Visualizations landing pages, which host interactive dashboards based on reports in the Consumer Sentinel Network for fraud, identity theft, unwanted calls, and other consumer problems, plus downloadable datasets such as Do Not Call complaint lists and visualizations of refunds from law enforcement cases [1] [4] [7]. Separate, public collections catalog FTC enforcement activity: the Cases and Proceedings legal library presents administrative and court dockets, complaints, consent decrees and orders, while the Competition Enforcement Database summarizes merger and antitrust enforcement entries and provides searchable records of competition actions [5] [6]. The FTC also issues the annual Consumer Sentinel Network Data Book, with national and state-level statistics and links to Tableau dashboards, though the underlying Sentinel complaint database itself is described as a secure tool reserved for law enforcement rather than the public [2] [8] [3].
2. How to search for complaints about a specific company using public FTC resources
To look for complaint patterns involving a named company, start with the FTC’s Explore Data/Tableau dashboards—those interactive visualizations let users filter by problem type, geography and sometimes by keywords tied to businesses to surface trends and top reporters, and provide downloadable charts and data for further filtering [1] [4]. For raw Do Not Call and robocall phone-number datasets, the FTC’s Data Sets page publishes that list, updated roughly each weekday, enabling searches by telephone number and related complaint metadata [7]. If a consumer wants formal enforcement documents tied to a company—complaints filed, consent orders, court proceedings—use the Cases and Proceedings page and the Competition Enforcement Database to retrieve specific case dockets and summaries of FTC actions [5] [6].
3. How to search for enforcement actions against a specific company
Enforcement records are public: the Cases and Proceedings section is the primary repository for FTC litigation and administrative matters and allows browsing or keyword searching for company names, complaint filings, consent orders and related documents, while the Competition Enforcement Database organizes antitrust and merger-related enforcement in tabular form, clarifying administrative versus court actions [5] [6]. The Explore Data pages complement these legal records by showing where recovered funds from enforcement cases were distributed and providing dashboards that can link enforcement outcomes to consumer-reported problems, useful for context if a company appears in both complaint data and an enforcement matter [4] [1].
4. Important limitations, caveats, and alternative avenues
The Consumer Sentinel Network—the raw complaint repository that powers public dashboards—is itself restricted to law enforcement users, so public-facing dashboards and data summaries are the best available view for civilians; this means individual complaint narratives and identifiable filing details are generally not publicly accessible through Sentinel [2] [3]. Data sets such as Do Not Call lists and annual Data Book summaries provide granular fields but may still require local filtering or cross-referencing with state attorney general databases, FTC press releases, or federal court dockets for a complete picture; the FTC’s site notes contributions from many state and federal partners, which can produce duplicated or aggregated entries across sources [7] [9] [10]. Where the FTC’s public tools are silent about a particular allegation or company, report limitations honestly rather than inferring absence of issues—some complaints may be held in Sentinel only or reflected only in partner agency records [2] [3].
5. Practical search steps and final takeaways
Practically, begin with Explore Data/Tableau to spot trends and search by keywords, then consult the Do Not Call dataset for telemarketing complaints, and pivot to Cases and Proceedings plus the Competition Enforcement Database to pull formal FTC actions and documents; use the Consumer Sentinel Data Book and FTC press releases for summarized context and refunds data linked to enforcement outcomes [1] [7] [5] [6] [4]. The FTC provides complementary public dashboards and legal libraries, but the underlying complaint database is restricted to law enforcement, so consumers should combine FTC public tools with state attorney general sites and federal court records for a fuller investigation when necessary [2] [9].