Category: Data Privacy Law

October 4, 2022

New California Law Establishes Broad Protections for Children’s Online Privacy – Exceeding Federal Requirements

California made history in September as the first state to enact legislation that punishes technology companies for violations of minors’ privacy and for practices that jeopardize minors’ safety in an effort to prioritize “the privacy, safety, and well-being of children over commercial interests.”  On September 15th, Governor Newsom signed The California Age-Appropriate Design Code Act… Read More

July 22, 2019

Equifax Settlement Teaches The Dos and Dont’s About Data Security

It’s been a busy summer for the FTC and the federal agency is dominating the headlines. There is the $5 billion settlement with Facebook for failing to better protect user privacy, which was announced earlier this month. Then there is the multimillion dollar settlement with Google for failing to adequately protect children’s privacy. That was… Read More

September 28, 2018

How One Simple Meeting Presages the Future of Federal Prosecution

For many years, it has been the federal government, with its multitude of prosecutorial and regulatory arms, that has been able to throw its policing weight around, causing business owners to snap to attention with a crisp salute.  But as the traditional business model has morphed into clouds of technology-driven, international and multinational enterprises, this… Read More

May 8, 2018

FTC Focuses on Kids’ Geo-Location Devices in Latest COPPA Warnings

A public service announcement of yesteryear posed the following question to parents: “It’s 8:00. Do you know where your children are?” Today’s technology allows parents to answer that question regardless of the time of day. That technology, however, has recently drawn scrutiny for violating the parental notice and consent provisions of the Federal Trade Commission’s… Read More

March 21, 2018

Facebook and the FTC: A Wake-Up Call for Companies Collecting Personal Data

The FTC is reported to be joining state and international regulators in examining Cambridge Analytica’s actions with data accessed from Facebook, including how the data analytics company obtained the information, what it did with the information, and whether Facebook complied with existing obligations, including a 2012 FTC consent decree. The situation underscores the importance of… Read More

June 12, 2017

The “Third Party” Catch-22

As the Department of Justice has been doubling down on law enforcement overreach, the Supreme Court has just decided to hear a case that may limit the use of a common tool that law enforcement uses to infringe upon the privacy rights of innocent people. The case, Carpenter v. United States, arises out of a… Read More

January 17, 2017

Alexa and Fifth Amendment Law

It sits in your house, passively recording everything you say.  It knows what you like.  It knows what you listen to.  It knows what you buy.  It knows who’s in the room with you.  And now, it might tell the police all about it. “It” is the Amazon Echo, a revolution in the “internet of… Read More