Last week, Democratic Senators Ron Wyden and Sherrod Brown and Congresswoman Anna Eshoo sent a letter to FTC Chairman Joseph J. Simons urging the agency to investigate whether analytics firm Envestnet, Inc. (which operates...more
1/22/2020
/ Congressional Investigations & Hearings ,
Consumer Financial Products ,
Data Collection ,
Data Privacy ,
Data-Sharing ,
Financial Services Industry ,
FTC Act ,
Gramm-Leach-Blilely Act ,
Personal Data ,
Popular ,
Unfair or Deceptive Trade Practices
In an interview with the editorial board of the New York Times, published today, former Vice President Joe Biden advocated for repeal of Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act (CDA). As readers of this blog may know,...more
On January 7, 2020, the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”)’s Office of Compliance Inspections and Examinations (OCIE) released its 2020 examination priorities. The majority of OCIE’s priorities for the coming year...more
1/16/2020
/ Blockchain ,
Compliance ,
Cybersecurity ,
Digital Assets ,
Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT) ,
FinTech ,
OCIE ,
Registered Investment Advisors ,
Retail Investors ,
SEC Examination Priorities ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)
On January 7, 2019, the Securities and Exchange Commission’s Office of Compliance Inspections and Examinations (OCIE) announced its 2020 examination priorities. In doing so, OCIE identified certain areas of technology-related...more
On January 7, 2019, the federal Office of Management and Budget (OMB) released a draft of a memorandum setting forth guidance to assist federal agencies in developing regulatory and non-regulatory approaches regarding...more
1/9/2020
/ Artificial Intelligence ,
Cybersecurity ,
Data Privacy ,
Draft Guidance ,
Government Agencies ,
NIST ,
OMB ,
Privacy Laws ,
Proposed Regulation ,
Public Comment ,
Rulemaking Process
t is that time of year when we look back to see what tech-law issues took up most of our time this year and look ahead to see what the emerging issues are for 2020.
Data: The Issues of the Year -
Data presented a wide...more
12/24/2019
/ 5G Network ,
Artificial Intelligence ,
Big Data ,
Blockchain ,
California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) ,
CFIUS ,
Communications Decency Act ,
Consumer Privacy Rights ,
Cryptocurrency ,
Cybersecurity ,
Data Breach ,
Data Collection ,
Data Security ,
Deep Fake ,
Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT) ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
International Data Transfers ,
Machine Learning ,
Popular ,
Privacy Laws ,
Social Media ,
Technology Sector
Recently, the Ninth Circuit reinstated a $460,000 jury verdict against print-on-demand site Zazzle, Inc. (“Zazzle”) for willful copyright infringement, putting a final stamp (perhaps) on a long-running dispute that explored...more
With the online shopping season in full swing, the FTC decided that online retailers might benefit from a reminder as to the dos and don’ts for social media influencers. Thus, the FTC released a new guide, “Disclosures 101...more
12/5/2019
/ Disclosure Requirements ,
E-Commerce ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
FTC Endorsement Guidelines ,
Influencers ,
New Guidance ,
Online Advertisements ,
Online Endorsements ,
Popular ,
Social Media ,
Websites
Last month, LinkedIn Corp. (“LinkedIn”) filed a petition for rehearing en banc of the Ninth Circuit’s blockbuster decision in hiQ Labs, Inc. v. LinkedIn Corp., No. 17-16783 (9th Cir. Sept. 9, 2019). The crucial question...more
The Georgia Supreme Court ruled that the retrieval of electronic automobile data from an electronic data recording device (e.g., airbag control modules) without a warrant at the scene of a fatal collision was a search and...more
10/22/2019
/ Automated Systems ,
Car Accident ,
Criminal Prosecution ,
Data Collection ,
Driverless Cars ,
Electronically Stored Information ,
Evidence Suppression ,
Fourth Amendment ,
GA Supreme Court ,
Internet of Things ,
Search & Seizure ,
Vehicular Homicide
On October 11, 2019, LinkedIn Corp. (“LinkedIn”) filed a petition for rehearing en banc of the Ninth Circuit’s blockbuster decision in hiQ Labs, Inc. v. LinkedIn Corp., No. 17-16783 (9th Cir. Sept. 9, 2019). The crucial...more
The ink is barely dry on the landmark Ninth Circuit hiQ Labs decision. Yet, a new dispute has already cropped up testing the bounds of the CFAA and the ability of a platform to enforce terms restricting unauthorized scraping...more
9/30/2019
/ Breach of Contract ,
Cease and Desist ,
Computer Fraud and Abuse Act (CFAA) ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Facebook ,
Injunctive Relief ,
LinkedIn ,
Preliminary Injunctions ,
Public Disclosure ,
Revocation ,
Terms of Use ,
Unauthorized Access ,
Web Scraping
In a ruling that is being hailed as a victory for web scrapers and the open nature of publicly available website data, the Ninth Circuit today issued its long-awaited opinion in hiQ Labs, Inc. v. LinkedIn Corp., No. 17-16783...more
9/10/2019
/ Appeals ,
Cease and Desist ,
Computer Fraud and Abuse Act (CFAA) ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Data Collection ,
E-Commerce ,
LinkedIn ,
Preliminary Injunctions ,
Revocation ,
Social Media ,
Terms of Use ,
Unauthorized Access ,
User Agreements ,
Web Scraping ,
Website Owner Liability
In the swirl of scrutiny surrounding the big Silicon Valley tech companies and with some in Congress declaiming that Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act (CDA) should be curtailed, 2019 has quietly been an important...more
8/29/2019
/ Automated Systems ,
Communications Decency Act ,
Dismissals ,
Illegal Drugs ,
Immunity ,
Narcotics ,
Section 230 ,
Third-Party ,
User-Generated Content ,
Website Owner Liability ,
Websites
In early July, an appeals court ruled that Amazon should be considered a “seller” of goods under Pennsylvania products liability law and subject to strict liability for consumer injuries caused by the defective goods sold on...more
This week, the FTC entered into a proposed settlement with Unrollme Inc. (“Unrollme”), a free personal email management service that offers to assist consumers in managing the flood of subscription emails in their inboxes....more
8/12/2019
/ California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) ,
Data Collection ,
Data Mining ,
Data Privacy ,
Email ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Market Research ,
Prior Express Consent ,
Privacy Concerns ,
Privacy Policy ,
Unfair or Deceptive Trade Practices
In an important opinion, the Ninth Circuit affirmed a lower court’s ruling that plaintiffs in the ongoing Facebook biometric privacy class action have alleged a concrete injury-in-fact to confer Article III standing and that...more
8/12/2019
/ Article III ,
Biometric Information ,
Biometric Information Privacy Act ,
Class Action ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Data Collection ,
Data Privacy ,
Facebook ,
Facial Recognition Technology ,
Fingerprints ,
IL Supreme Court ,
Injury-in-Fact ,
Personal Data ,
Personally Identifiable Information ,
Social Media ,
Standing ,
Statutory Violations
In recent years, there have been a number of suits filed in federal courts seeking to hold social media platforms responsible for providing material support to terrorists by allowing members of such groups to use social media...more
In early July, Ticketmaster reached a favorable settlement in its action against a ticket broker that was alleged to have used automated bots to purchase tickets in bulk, thus ending a dispute that produced notable court...more
Two recent web scraping disputes highlight some important issues regarding whether a website owner may successfully allege a breach of contract action against a commercial party that has scraped website content contrary to...more
7/11/2019
/ Actual or Constructive Knowledge ,
Breach of Contract ,
Browsewrap Agreement ,
Cease and Desist ,
Clickwrap Agreements ,
Computer Fraud and Abuse Act (CFAA) ,
Forum Selection ,
Lanham Act ,
Permanent Injunctions ,
State Law Claims ,
Terms of Use ,
Unauthorized Access ,
Unfair Competition ,
Web Scraping ,
Website Owner Liability ,
Websites
In the past few months, there have been a number of notable decisions affirming broad immunity under the Communications Decency Act (CDA), 47 U.S.C. §230(c), for online providers that host third party content. The beat goes...more
6/24/2019
/ Communications Decency Act ,
Data Collection ,
Dismissals ,
Immunity ,
Section 230 ,
Third-Party ,
Tortious Interference ,
Unfair Competition ,
User-Generated Content ,
Website Owner Liability ,
Websites
Yesterday, the Georgia Supreme Court is set to hear oral argument in an appeal brought by a defendant convicted of vehicular homicide and other charges related to a fatal car crash. (Mobley v. State, No. S18C1546). The...more
6/20/2019
/ Automated Systems ,
Car Accident ,
Criminal Prosecution ,
Data Collection ,
Driverless Cars ,
Electronically Stored Information ,
Evidence Suppression ,
Fourth Amendment ,
GA Supreme Court ,
Search & Seizure ,
Vehicular Homicide
Last month, a California district court granted a web-based service’s motion to compel arbitration of a putative class action brought by a user whose personal information was allegedly accessed in a massive 2016 data breach...more
During the 2016 election, certain Russian operatives used fake social media profiles to influence voters and also created bot accounts to add likes to and share posts across the internet. And more recently, in January 2019,...more
Three recent court decisions affirmed the robust immunity under the Communications Decency Act (CDA), 47 U.S.C. §230(c), for online providers that host third-party content: the Second Circuit’s decision in Herrick v. Grindr...more
5/29/2019
/ Communications Decency Act ,
Dismissals ,
Good Samaritans ,
Immunity ,
Section 230 ,
Third-Party ,
Third-Party Service Provider ,
User-Generated Content ,
Website Owner Liability ,
Websites ,
WI Supreme Court