Privacy Plus+ News
Stay informed with our latest insights on privacy and technology trends, along with key updates from our firm.
America's Authoritarian Turn: From Texas Cameras to Federal Databases
This week, let’s scrutinize how government surveillance systems designed for legitimate purposes are being weaponized by zealous officials and private contractors to track citizens across state lines and build comprehensive databases, threatening the constitutional foundations of American liberty.
Managing your Digital Footprint
This week, let’s highlight the Electronic Frontier Foundation’s guidance on "How to Manage Your Digital Footprint."
CFPB Freeze Leaves Data Broker Regulations in Limbo
This week, let’s consider how a landmark data privacy rule – which would have classified data brokers as "consumer reporting agencies" under the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) – faces an uncertain future.
FTC vs. Data Brokers: Redefining the Rules of Location Data Privacy
This week, let’s consider some recent cases by the Federal Trade Commission against data broker for mishandling “sensitive location data.”
Protecting your Digital Privacy
This week, let’s revisit essential privacy and security practices, highlighting WIRED Magazine's comprehensive guide on protecting yourself from government surveillance.
Telegram’s Weakening Privacy
This week, let’s consider the news that social-media giant Telegram may now deliver users’ IP addresses and telephone numbers to criminal authorities “upon valid legal request.”
Providing Notice “When Every Click is Counted” – S.D. Cal. Weighs in
This week, let’s highlight a recent case from California, Price et al. v. Carnival Corp., which addressed the issue of "notice" as it relates to online privacy, and specifically focused on the use of session replay software.
When Opt-Ins are Illusory – The Fifth Circuit has Something to Say
This week, let’s highlight last week’s 5th U.S. Court of Appeals opinion in United States v. Smith, finding geofence warrants unconstitutional, and in the process, challenging the voluntary nature of the “electronic opt-in process.”
Meta's $1.4 Billion Texas Biometric Settlement
This week, let’s highlight Texas’s recent $1.4 Billion settlement with Meta stemming from its 2022 lawsuit accusing the “Artificial Intelligence empire” of building itself on the “backs of Texans” by violating the Texas Capture or Use of Biometric Identifier Act (CUBI).
Pixels and Privacy: Are IP Addresses Personal Information?
This week, let’s consider the issue of whether an IP address can be considered personal information under the law, and its relevance to pixel and session replay litigation.
Navigating the Texas Data Privacy and Security Act: Insights from the Attorney General’s New Resource
This week, let’s highlight a new resource published by the Office of the Attorney General on the Texas Data Privacy and Security Act.
Texas Attorney General Signals Enforcement of Data Broker Registration Law
This week, let’s highlight the recent issuance of over one hundred notifications to companies accused of violating the new data broker law in Texas.
FTC Lessons in Handling Sensitive Location Data
This week, let’s consider the FTC’s continued focus on sensitive location data. We’ll look at the lessons that can be learned from its latest actions, and provide a related thought on how irony emerges when considering local governments' widespread adoption of Smart City technologies.
Exploring EPIC’s Report on Outsourced AI Systems
Exploring EPIC’s Report on Outsourced AI Systems: This week, let’s consider government contracts for AI systems and the Electronic Privacy Information Center’s analysis of related issues, like privacy, cybersecurity, accuracy, bias, and more. Tips about procurement and contracting are included.
The Emerging Conflict in Data Privacy Regulation: FCC, FTC, and the Proposed American Privacy Rights Act
This week, let’s consider a brewing conflict between the Federal Communications Act (FCC) and the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) concerning the enforcement of data privacy laws as highlighted by the proposed American Privacy Rights Act (APRA).
U.S. State Privacy Laws (as of April 2024)
This week, let’s consider the current patchwork of state consumer privacy laws in the United States.
Security vs. Privacy: Unpacking L.A. County's Criminal Record Search Changes
This week, let’s consider the unintended consequences of the Los Angeles County Superior Court’s decision to remove birthdate information from its criminal record search engines.
Stop Selling Data: Avast's Strategy Stymied by the FTC
This week, let’s consider the Federal Trade Commission’s recent settlement with Avast, which, among other things, contains a $16.5 million penalty and bans Avast from selling web browsing data for advertising purposes
Blackbaud's FTC Deal: Delete Data, Amp Up Security
This week, let’s take a look at the Federal Trade Commission’s recent settlement with Blackbaud Inc, a service provider of software and services for more than 45,000 companies, and consider it as guidance on reasonable security measures and data retention practices.
Understanding the New Data Broker Registration Laws
This week, let’s delve into the new data broker registration laws, and focus on the laws in California and Texas.