

A Blog About FTC regulations and happenings
COVID19 is not the only viral threat we face these days. Malware is a very real vulnerability for businesses large and small, among a host of other data security threats.We have rapidly transitioned to telework. For many (perhaps most) businesses, that transition took place without a clear inventory of hardware leaving the office and without a clear telework policy for employees. As a business, data security may not seem like your most pressing concern (as you pivot to survive a new economic reality). But a data breach could be the proverbial straw that breaks the camel’s back. Data breach was an inevitability for most businesses before the fire drill switch to telework. The new remote work dynamic heaps loads of new data security risks atop the earlier “inevitability.” And to complicate matters, data breach laws across the states have... Read more

Allowances Made for COVID-19 Don’t Mean Telehealth Providers and Employers Can Share Protected Information Without Consequences
COVID-19 has become a pervasive concern for everyone. Older Americans are particularly susceptible to contracting COVID-19. On March 17th, the Trump Administration and the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) announced the expansion of Medicare beneficiaries’ access to telehealth services during the COVID-19 outbreak. Importantly, the HHS Office for Civil Rights (OCR) announced it… Read More
Cause Marketing Social causes are an important part of both community and business culture. Increasingly, businesses identify social causes to support as a part of their company mission. When they fold that mission into their marketing, it can trigger federal and state consumer protection laws (as well as federal tax laws). Why? To prevent fraud… Read More
While the world is uni-focused on the Corona virus, companies doing business in California and impacted by the California Consumer Privacy Act must face another dizzying round of revisions to the California Attorney General’s draft implementing regulations. The AG released its latest set of revisions on March 11, providing an additional notice and comment period… Read More
Can the free market weigh in on data privacy and further data privacy rights in way that the law cannot? Can the free market put control over people’s data back in individuals’ hands? Many of us have been waiting for a market solution to address the privacy of personal data. As attorneys, we know from… Read More

Putting the Brakes on Swift and Sweeping Adoption of Facial Recognition Technologies
When it is not clear which way to go, don’t. This is the upshot of an article by Wojciech Wiewiorowski: Facial recognition: A solution in search of a problem? Wiewiorowski is the Assistant Supervisor at the European Data Protection Supervisor (the E.U.’s independent data protection authority), which published his article on their site in late… Read More

SEC’s Lawsuit Against Telegram Raises Questions About Cryptocurrency “Presales” Under Regulation D
On October 11, 2019, the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) filed a lawsuit against Telegram Group, Inc. and TON Issuer, Inc. (“Telegram”), and simultaneously obtained a temporary restraining order preventing Telegram from issuing its “Gram” cryptocurrency, which had been scheduled for delivery on October 31, 2019. The SEC claimed that the sale of Grams amount… Read More
The FTC held three panels on Wednesday, August 7, 2019, that centered on one topic: loot boxes earned or purchased during online game play. It’s clear from the selection of panelists and the questions posed by FTC staff that the FTC is on high alert about potential consumer protection issues surrounding these in-game purchases. If… Read More
On July 25, the Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC) Division of Corporation Finance issued a letter to Pocketful of Quarters, Inc. (PoQ), informing PoQ that it would not recommend enforcement action in regards to PoQ’s proposal to sell tokens (called Quarters) on its gaming platform. The SEC informed PoQ that based on PoQ’s description of… Read More
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
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