Civil Remedies › Consumer Protection › Privacy

FTC: Data Brokers That Compile Tenant Data May Be Covered by FCRA

On April 3, 2013, the Federal Trade Commission issued a press release that marks yet another step in its continuing trend of actions involving data brokers and data providers. As we have noted in earlier blog posts, the...more

Advertising Law - Apr 25, 2013

- Marc Roth Invited to Present on Privacy Issues in Marketing at NYC Bar CLE Program: On May 3, 2013, the New York City Bar Center for CLE and the Brand Activation Association (formerly the Promotion Marketing...more

Burr Alert: Blowing The Cap Off Statutory Damages Under The FCCPA?: An Analysis Of Kahmeyer v. Federal Credit Corporation

In Kahmeyer v. Federal Credit Corporation, the 13th Judicial Circuit in Hillsborough County, Florida released an opinion that has given new life to the argument that each violation of the Florida Consumer Collection Practices...more

Zip Code Requests Off-Limits in Massachusetts Credit Card Transactions

In a recent decision, Tyler v. Michaels Stores, Inc., the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court held that zip codes are “personal identification information” and that a merchant asking for that information during a credit card...more

Retailers Beware: Massachusetts Court Restricts Ability To Collect ZIP Codes At Point Of Sale

The Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts recently held that collecting a consumer's ZIP code at the point of sale may violate Massachusetts General Laws Chapter 93, Section 105(a) (Section 105(a)), which restricts the...more

Google Settles Another Privacy Allegation — This One Concerning Its ‘Street View’

Google recently agreed to a settlement after a three-year investigation conducted by 38 state attorneys general stemming for allegations that it had violated individuals’ privacy rights when it collected information from...more

The Data Breach Lawsuit Powder Keg

Most data breaches occur because companies fail to implement adequate safeguards to protect personal identifiable information, and data breaches are growing in scope and sophistication. A study by NetDiligence concluded that...more

Retail Customers Obtain Unusually Favorable Settlement In Zip Code Collection Case

On January 11, the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California approved a settlement between a retailer and a class of customers to resolve allegations that the retailer violated the California Song-Beverly...more

CFPB's Regulatory Agenda - 2013

As we begin a new year and prepare ourselves for the blizzard of new and revised regulations coming our way, I think it is important for us to consider the regulatory agenda that the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau...more

Privacy Class Actions: Year-in-Review

During 2012, privacy class actions continued to trend toward two major categories: 1) actions that arose out of a data breach event and 2) actions brought to prosecute an alleged consumer privacy right....more

Making Meyer Lemonade Out Of Meyer Lemons: Ninth Circuit Affirms Provisional Class Certification and Injunction in TCPA Case

In Meyer v. Portfolio Recovery Associates (Oct. 12, 2012), the Ninth Circuit affirmed the Southern District of California’s decision to provisionally certify a class and grant a preliminary injunction against Portfolio...more

Google Pays $22.5 Million for Violating Users’ Privacy

After violating a 2011 privacy settlement it had made with the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), Google has been ordered to pay a $22.5 million fine over its use of cookies on users of Apple’s Safari web browser....more

Elizabeth Warren's Interview

In July 2011, I published my interview of Elizabeth Warren, entitled Opening a Dialogue: Elizabeth Warren and the Mortgage Industry.* I have been told that this interview is one of the last published interviews of Mrs....more

Do You Follow Your Posted Online Terms and Conditions?

There are dozens of federal statues and regulations that govern consumer privacy. They regulate what data a company can collect and how you must protect it once you have it. One of the best ways to mess up in e-commerce is...more

CFPB's Five Year Strategic Plan

Recently, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) published for comment on its website its draft Strategic Plan for 2013 - 2018 (Plan). According to the CFPB, the plan includes the following four goals: (1)...more

The TCPA - A Summary Introduction

The Telephone Consumer Protection Act, 47 U.S.C. § 227 (TCPA) is a federal statute that was enacted in 1991 to address concerns relating to telemarketing/solicitation practices. It amended the Communications Act of 1934, and...more

Advertising Law -- August 24, 2012

In This issue: Long-Running False Advertising Class Action Resolved with $3.3 Million Payment; FTC Issues Record Fine Against Google; Jiffy Lube Agrees to $47M Tune-Up in Spam Text Suit; Coppertone’s Claims Burned...more

Fair Credit Reporting Act Is Applied to Data Broker Selling Personal Information Gleaned from Social Media for Employment...

In what the Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”) touts as “the first Commission case to address the sale of Internet and social media data in the employment screening context,” Spokeo, an on-line data broker, has agreed to settle...more

In Re Electronic Privacy Information Center

Petition For A Writ of Mandamus To Enforce This Court's Mandate

EPIC Files Mandamus Petition to Compel Action on the Airport Body Scanner Program EPIC has filed a mandamus petition with the Federal Court of Appeals in Washington, DC to require the beginning of a public comment...more

EPIC Objects to Facebook Settlement, Cites Failure to Benefit Class Members (Letter two).

EPIC has asked a federal judge to reject a pending class action settlement concerning Facebook, stating that it does not actually benefit Facebook users. In one letter to the court, EPIC explained that the settlement does not...more

EPIC Objects to Facebook Settlement, Cites Failure to Benefit Class Members

EPIC has asked a federal judge to reject a pending class action settlement concerning Facebook, stating that it does not actually benefit Facebook users. In one letter to the court, EPIC explained that the settlement does not...more

May 2012: Class Action Litigation Update: Data Breach Class Actions—Courts Treat Theft Differently From Mere Loss

Any company that stores or processes consumers’ personal information is at risk of suffering a data breach — and, potentially, defending a class action lawsuit. Class actions based on data breaches are increasingly common and...more

Credit Processor Pays $1 Million for Data Breach

Think your credit card information is secure? Think again. Last month, Heartland Payment Systems, a national credit processor, settled a class action lawsuit to the tune of $1 million after a staggering 130 million credit...more

Washington Federal Court Allows Data Privacy Case Against IMDb to Proceed

On March 28, the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington held that actress Huong Hoang’s lawsuit against website IMDb.com pled sufficient facts to move forward on her breach of contract and Washington...more

FTC Issues New Consumer Privacy Guidelines

In this article, we will take a brief look at consumer privacy protection updates at the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), the watchdog enforcement agency charged with protecting consumer privacy, issued a sweeping revisions to...more