On March 1, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) granted a temporary stay of one of the broadband privacy rules adopted in October of last year. That rule, which pertains to data security, would otherwise take effect on March 2. Newly installed FCC Chairman Ajit Pai and Federal Trade Commission (FTC) Acting Chair Maureen Ohlhausen issued
If a business advertises it is a member of a privacy program, even a voluntary one, it had better be, according to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC). In separate but related complaints, the FTC alleged that three businesses – software provider Sentinel Labs Inc., private messaging app developer SpyChatter Inc., and cybersecurity software company Vir2us
Have you ever had the niggling suspicion your television was watching you? Apparently, if it was made by smart technology manufacturer VIZIO, it very well may have been. In a $2.2 million settlement with the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and the New Jersey Attorney General, VIZIO acknowledged that it collected and sold data from
In 2015, Verizon found itself in hot water over charges it was using a “super cookie” that continued to operate even when users believed they had opted out of mobile phone data tracking. Verizon allegedly then sent the data obtained to a third party for targeted advertising purposes without its customers’ consent. Verizon settled with
Texas Attorney General (AG) Ken Paxton announced a settlement with an app developer over concerns that the developer’s apps infringed children’s privacy.
The developer, Juxta Labs, Inc., offers a range of mobile apps and games. According to the AG’s press release, the company’s apps and social media were easy for children of any age to
On August 4, 2016, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) released a Declaratory Ruling granting in part two separate petitions that were filed last year – one by the Edison Electric Institute and American Gas Association, and another by Blackboard, Inc. – regarding application of the Telephone Consumer Protection Act of 1991 (TCPA) to certain types
The European Commission (EC) approved the EU–U.S. Privacy Shield on Tuesday, July 12, after European Union member states, through the Article 31 committee, approved the pact the previous week (more on the draft adequacy decision back in March here and the earlier agreement laying out the Privacy Shield here). The decision will allow U.S.
We have updated our summary of state data breach notification laws in light of recent amendments to some of the laws since our last update in September 2015.
Notably, Tennessee amended its data breach notification law, the Identity Theft Deterrence Act, effective July 1, 2016, by eliminating an encryption safe harbor and requiring that
The new European Union General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) (Regulation 2016/679, Apr. 27, 2016) will replace the Data Protection Directive (Directive 95/46/EC) effective May 25, 2018. The GDPR has been a long time coming, and introduces a host of new requirements for companies that use or process data in the EU, or simply use or
Last year, we noted that the Supreme Court had granted certiorari in a case that could limit the ability of plaintiffs to sue defendants over bare statutory violations without the showing of actual injury. The case implicates a wide variety of statutes that grant monetary awards to successful plaintiffs on
