No matter how small it seems to you, if your company offers a reward to consumers as encouragement to market your goods or services, then your company should not remove or expire that reward without notice and a rational...more
6/2/2017
/ Article III ,
Consumer Protection Laws ,
Economic Injuries ,
Gamification ,
Implied Contract ,
Injury-in-Fact ,
Marketing ,
Online Gaming ,
Rewards Programs ,
SCOTUS ,
Social Media ,
Standing ,
Unjust Enrichment
A consumer’s television or computer may be emitting silent signals that her smartphone can hear, recognize and answer back, but the consumer can’t sense them at all. These signals are telling retailers about their customer’s...more
5/25/2017
/ App Developers ,
Cross-Device ,
Data Security ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Notice Requirements ,
Personal Data ,
Privacy Policy ,
Retailers ,
Transparency ,
Warning Letters ,
Web Tracking
Your business may have been victim to the latest ransomware attack, or it may be caught in the next wave.
On May 12, 2017, the “WannaCry” ransomware attack compromised over 70,000 organizations in nearly 100...more
Does every product that takes a full face scan and saves it in accessible files violate the Illinois Biometric Information Privacy Act? Apparently not....more
U.S companies are expected to explain how consumers are being tracked across devices, so that the company knows a consumer accessing its website from smartphone, tablet, television, laptop or other devices. Until now, U.S....more
On January 11, 2017, the Swiss Federal Council announced that a new framework will govern the transfer of personal data from Switzerland to the US. According to the Federal Council, the Swiss-US Privacy Shield Framework...more
As more consumer devices connect to the Internet, regulators take a more aggressive stance requiring security promises be met.
On January 5, 2017, the FTC filed a complaint against computer networking equipment...more
The cyber war battlefield has expanded, and your business is now a fighter and a target.
A new U.S. Government report explains many reasons for identifying and penalizing Russian hackers, the Russian intelligence...more
The Internet of Things is upon us with smartphones, smart cars, and self-sensing trash cans. The next decade will see a geometric expansion of the types of objects we fit with sensors and connect to the Web. As these...more
On October 25, 2016, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) released its nonbinding “Data Breach Response” guide with an accompanying blog post and video, all directed to help businesses prepare a data breach response plan. The...more
A hotel is a personal place, even if you share it with thousands of other people. The very obscurity in a crowd can make you feel anonymous, and the private living space allows for the most private of conversations and...more
9/30/2016
/ Big Data ,
Cell Phones ,
Data Breach ,
FCC ,
Hilton ,
Hospitality Industry ,
Hotels ,
Hyatt ,
International Travel ,
Invasion of Privacy ,
iPhone Tracking ,
Malware ,
Marriott ,
No-Blocking Rules ,
Personal Data ,
Surveillance ,
Web Tracking ,
Wifi
After months of uncertainty, the U.S. again has a framework of rules to follow that will govern U.S. business’ use of EU residents’ data. The European Commission approved the text of the EU-U.S. Privacy Shield (the “Privacy...more
7/14/2016
/ EU ,
EU-US Privacy Shield ,
European Commission ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
International Data Transfers ,
Ombudsman ,
Opt-Outs ,
Personal Data ,
Schrems I & Schrems II ,
Surveillance ,
Third-Party Agents ,
U.S. Commerce Department ,
US-EU Safe Harbor Framework
European privacy law is a bold new world for U.S. businesses doing business in Europe. An October Court of Justice ruling struck down the Safe Harbor arrangement which had governed E.U.-U.S. data transfer transactions for...more
6/8/2016
/ Binding Corporate Rules ,
EU ,
EU Data Protection Laws ,
EU-US Privacy Shield ,
European Commission ,
European Court of Justice (ECJ) ,
Facebook ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Google ,
International Data Transfers ,
Personal Data ,
Right to Be Forgotten ,
Schrems I & Schrems II ,
Standard Contractual Clauses ,
Surveillance ,
U.S. Commerce Department ,
US-EU Safe Harbor Framework
In Travelers Indemnity Co. of America v. Portal Healthcare Solutions, LLC, the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals reverses the recent trend of insurance companies avoiding any liability for data breaches under commercial general...more
We all know why selecting appropriate data security standards is difficult. No two business are the same. Different businesses have different assets to protect and different bank accounts to tap. Different sized businesses...more
The U.S. and EU are one step closer to implementing the new EU-U.S. Privacy Shield. On March 1, 2016, the European Commission and U.S. Department of Commerce announced the release of the legal texts that will put in place...more
The U.S. and E.U. are one step closer to entering into a new data transfer agreement. On February 24, 2016, President Barack Obama signed into legislation the Judicial Redress Act, giving citizens of certain allied countries,...more
United States and European Union officials have reached a last-minute agreement in an attempt to salvage the US-EU Data Transfer Safe Harbor, nearly four months after the European Court of Justice issued an opinion...more
2/4/2016
/ Data Protection Authority ,
EU ,
EU-US Privacy Shield ,
European Commission ,
European Court of Justice (ECJ) ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
International Data Transfers ,
Schrems I & Schrems II ,
Surveillance ,
U.S. Commerce Department ,
US-EU Safe Harbor Framework
In the third privacy-related enforcement action of the year, the FCC Enforcement Bureau entered into a $595,000 settlement with Cox Communications to resolve an investigation into the company’s loss of customer personal data....more
We leave breadcrumbs of biometric information scattered around our daily lives, which may be collected and used by private entities, often without our knowledge or consent. The sound of your voice when you call your bank’s...more
10/26/2015
/ Biometric Information ,
Biometric Information Privacy Act ,
Class Action ,
Consent ,
Data Collection ,
Data Privacy ,
Data Protection ,
Data Security ,
Driver's Licenses ,
FERPA ,
New Legislation ,
Parental Consent ,
Personal Data ,
Personally Identifiable Information ,
Privacy Laws ,
Privacy Policy ,
Shutterfly ,
Social Networks ,
Students
A new privacy law requires companies to make specific statements about what information is collected on its website. Like California, it also requires that companies state in writing whether they respect “Do Not Track”...more
10/8/2015
/ Cloud Computing ,
Data Privacy ,
Data Protection ,
Data Security ,
Do Not Track ,
e-Books ,
Marketing ,
Mobile Apps ,
New Legislation ,
Online Privacy Protection Act ,
Online Safety for Children ,
Personally Identifiable Information ,
Popular ,
Prior Express Consent ,
Privacy Policy ,
Third-Party ,
Websites
A major European court has just pulled the rug out from under nearly 5,000 US companies, snatching away the relative business certainty of the Data Transfer Safe Harbor, and maybe the safety of standard contract clauses and...more
10/7/2015
/ Binding Corporate Rules ,
Data Collection ,
Data Privacy ,
Data Protection Authority ,
Data Security ,
Edward Snowden ,
EU ,
EU Data Protection Laws ,
European Commission ,
European Court of Justice (ECJ) ,
Facebook ,
International Data Transfers ,
National Security Agency (NSA) ,
Personal Data ,
Personally Identifiable Information ,
SCC ,
Surveillance ,
US-EU Safe Harbor Framework
Your business, school or enterprise has an obligation under the law to accommodate handicapped people in accessing your facilities. As more business moves to the Web, the U.S. Justice Department is increasingly finding that...more
9/24/2015
/ Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) ,
Class Action ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Disabilities ,
Duty to Accommodate ,
Enforcement Actions ,
H&R Block ,
Internet Retailers ,
Mass Tort Litigation ,
Reasonable Accommodation ,
Retailers ,
Website Accessibility ,
Websites
Expiration of a patent also terminates the rights to collect royalties on that patent – even if a license contract says otherwise. All businesses are reminded to check the termination date of any patent licensed to the...more
7/13/2015
/ Brulotte ,
Kimble v Marvel Enterprises ,
Licensing Rights ,
Marvel Comics ,
Patent Expiration ,
Patent Infringement ,
Patent Royalties ,
Patents ,
Royalties ,
SCOTUS ,
Stare Decisis ,
Technology ,
Trade Secrets