California Actively Enforcing its Delete Act against Data Brokers
If you are a data broker and you are not registered in California, you may face sanctions, including fines and possible shut down of operations. The California Privacy Protection Agency is actively enforcing the state’s Delete Act, legislation that was enacted in 2023. The Delete Act requires entities that qualify as data brokers under the…
Read MoreFTC Cracking Down On Online Censorship
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has recently launched a public outreach effort to obtain information from the public regarding how they are treated by technology platforms. As explained by the FTC, they are seeking to “understand how technology platforms deny or degrade users’ access to services based on the content of their speech or affiliation,…
Read MorePause Play? CFPB Gaming-Related Rules on Hold
Newly installed Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (“CFPB”) Director Russell Vought directed agency staff to stop work on agency matters and stay home. The future of many of the CFPB-led initiatives looks bleak, including a recent interpretive rule proposal that would treat video game publishers like payment processors. Background Congress created the CFPB, an independent federal…
Read MoreDeath of the CFPB and Impact on Consumer Arbitration
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (“CFPB”) has spent years trying to limit provisions that may be placed into consumer contracts, particularly with regard to class-action waivers, arbitration, and damages limitations. In 2015, the CFPB conducted a study of consumer arbitration clauses. Notably, the CFPB’s study found that few class action cases proceed to trial, but…
Read MoreCancelling Subscriptions Could be Easier, or Maybe Signing Up Will Get Harder
Drawn in by the appeal of steady revenue, nearly three-quarters of direct-to-consumer companies now include a subscription model.[1] Everything has a subscription these days: video games, groceries, dating apps—you can even subscribe to a service to cancel your other subscriptions.[2] These subscriptions were not deterred from joining their most prominent predecessor (the gym membership) as…
Read MoreTemporary relief from compliance obligations under the Corporate Transparency Act
On December 3, 2024, a U.S. District Court[1] issued a nationwide preliminary injunction that enjoins the federal government from enforcing the Corporate Transparency Act (the CTA)[2]. The CTA requires “reporting companies” in the United States to disclose basic identifying information about their beneficial owners — the individuals who ultimately own or control a company —…
Read MoreWill Free Speech Become Expensive for Big Tech?
Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act[1] is the federal law that allows internet platforms to host online content without fear of lawsuits based on third party content. In other words, for hosting free speech, internet providers are given immunity from liability if the speech somehow crosses the line from protected free speech into unprotected…
Read MoreDolce Vita Ruling a Win for Cookies and Pixels Alike
In recent years, companies in industries from media to healthcare have faced a rash of lawsuits challenging their use of common web tracking technologies such as the Meta Pixel. These cases generally allege that the use of such tracking technologies violates common law privacy protections and a wide range of state and federal privacy statutes.…
Read MoreFTC’s Operation AI Comply Generated in Part by Fear of Scale
With the increased visibility of Artificial Intelligence (“AI”) in our daily lives—in search engines, PDF readers, social media feeds—AI is starting to become commonplace and its use normalized. In its recent crackdown against five businesses advertising AI services to consumers, the FTC put its enforcement authority behind its belief that AI can “turbocharge deception” (“Operation…
Read MoreWhat are cookie consents and do you really need them on your website?
Most of us are accustomed to receiving pop-up notices regarding cookies when we first visit a website. Some people quickly click the “accept” button and move on. Others review their choices, and opt out of some, if not all, optional cookies. Why suddenly, have we been offered such choices online, even in the U.S.? Those…
Read More