While plaintiffs’ attorneys were initially focused late last year on suing health care entities for using Pixel and other tracking technology to share information about website users with social media platforms such as Meta...more
1/27/2023
/ Chick-Fil-A ,
Class Action ,
Data Collection ,
Data Privacy ,
Data Protection ,
Data-Sharing ,
Facebook ,
Fast-Food Industry ,
Statutory Violations ,
Targeted Digital Advertising ,
Tracking Systems ,
Video Privacy Protection Act ,
Web Tracking
On Tuesday, January 17, 2023, the University of Texas at Austin announced that it has blocked TikTok access across the university’s networks. According to the announcement to its users, “You are no longer able to access...more
The federal government has implemented a program in which each household can order four free COVID-19 test kits through the United States Postal Service (USPS). This is a perfect opportunity for scammers to spoof the USPS...more
12/22/2022
/ Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Data Collection ,
Healthcare ,
Infectious Diseases ,
Internet ,
Online Platforms ,
Scams ,
USPS ,
Virus Testing ,
Vulnerability Assessments ,
Websites
Governors of numerous states have issued Executive Orders in the past several weeks banning TikTok from government-issued devices and many have already implemented a ban, with others considering similar measures. There is...more
CYBERSECURITY -
South Dakota Governor Bans State Workers from Using TikTok -
It is estimated that some 80 million Americans and more than one billion people use TikTok. It is well known that TikTok has a direct...more
I continue to marvel at how many Americans are using TikTok but are oblivious to the fact that they are being duped by one of our foreign adversaries—the Chinese Communist Party. Folks, listen to and heed the warnings of both...more
It is estimated that some 80 million Americans and more than one billion people use TikTok. It is well known that TikTok has a direct connection to the Chinese Communist Party, which is a foreign adversary of the U.S. This...more
12/1/2022
/ China ,
Cybersecurity ,
Data Collection ,
Electronic Devices ,
Mobile Apps ,
National Security ,
New Regulations ,
Social Media ,
State Bans ,
State Employees ,
TikTok
As companies hustle to follow the new California Privacy Rights Act (CPRA) regulations, they’ve hit a substantial hiccup: there aren’t any yet. The California Privacy Rights Agency (CPPA), the newly- created body with...more
11/10/2022
/ California ,
California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) ,
California Privacy Rights Act (CPRA) ,
Consumer Privacy Rights ,
Cybersecurity ,
Data Collection ,
Data Management ,
Data Privacy ,
Data Protection ,
Data Security ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Regulatory Reform ,
Regulatory Requirements
I had a really interesting discussion with my students during class this week about employers’ use of electronic means to monitor employees. When I first started teaching Privacy Law at Roger Williams Law School eight or nine...more
11/4/2022
/ Data Collection ,
Employee Monitoring ,
Employee Privacy Rights ,
Employee Rights ,
Employee Tracking ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Policies ,
NLRA ,
NLRB ,
Statutory Violations ,
Surveillance
Last week, the California Privacy Protection Agency (CPPA) released updated California Privacy Rights Act (CPRA) draft regulations and a summary of the changes. The regulations remain in the proposal stage and it is unclear...more
10/28/2022
/ California ,
California Privacy Rights Act (CPRA) ,
Consumer Privacy Rights ,
Cybersecurity ,
Data Collection ,
Data Privacy ,
Data Protection ,
Personal Information ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Regulatory Reform ,
Regulatory Standards ,
State Privacy Laws
If you don’t know what geofencing is, I will give you some articles to read so you can become better educated on exactly what it is and how it is used to track you. It’s all a bit creepy, but is a good thing to understand....more
I recently ran across a Forbes article that I thought was spot-on, so I am sharing it with our readers. Entitled “5 Tips For How To Handle Consumer Privacy Concerns,” the article astutely points out that “In the age of...more
CYBERSECURITY -
FBI Issues Notice to Health Industry Highlighting Risks of Unpatched Medical Devices -
The FBI issued a Private Industry Notification targeted to the health care sector on September 12, 2022, warning...more
9/19/2022
/ Cyber Attacks ,
Cybersecurity ,
Data Collection ,
Data Privacy ,
Data Security ,
FBI ,
Hackers ,
Identity Theft ,
Online Safety for Children ,
Personally Identifiable Information ,
Vulnerability Assessments
This week, in addition to the news-catching, ongoing dispute between Twitter and Elon Musk, Twitter’s former head of cybersecurity, Peiter Zatko, claimed in a whistleblower filing with several federal agencies that Twitter...more
8/26/2022
/ Bots ,
Data Collection ,
Data Protection ,
Data Security ,
Elon Musk ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Government Investigations ,
Internet ,
Risk Management ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Social Media ,
Social Networks ,
Twitter ,
Vulnerability Assessments
CYBERSECURITY Neopets Breach Affects 69M Users What is Neopets, you ask? It is a virtual pet website that gives members the ability to “own, raise, and play games with their virtual pets.” According to BleepingComputer,...more
7/29/2022
/ Cybersecurity ,
Data Collection ,
Data Management ,
Data Privacy ,
Data Protection ,
Drones ,
Information Technology ,
Online Gaming ,
Online Safety for Children ,
Personal Data ,
Popular
Ramping up the state’s continued focus on data privacy, on June 8, 2022, Colorado Governor Jared Polis signed legislation aimed at limiting the use of facial recognition technology by government agencies and state...more
6/16/2022
/ Biometric Information ,
Civil Liberties ,
Colorado ,
Consumer Privacy Rights ,
Data Collection ,
Data Privacy ,
Educational Institutions ,
Facial Recognition Technology ,
New Legislation ,
Personal Data ,
Personally Identifiable Information ,
Regulatory Reform ,
Students
The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) filed suit against Clearview AI, Inc. (Clearview AI) in March 2020, alleging that it violated the Illinois Biometric Information Privacy Act (BIPA) by capturing and using billions of...more
5/13/2022
/ American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) ,
Artificial Intelligence ,
Biometric Information ,
Biometric Information Privacy Act ,
Clearview AI ,
Consumer Privacy Rights ,
Data Collection ,
Data Privacy ,
Facial Recognition Technology ,
Personally Identifiable Information ,
Settlement Agreements ,
Statutory Violations
I traveled this week by plane to a client to conduct a cybersecurity tabletop exercise—one of my favorite things to do (the tabletop, not the flying). -
To be able to use the wi-fi, everyone instructed in the gate area was...more
The newest state data privacy law, the Utah Consumer Privacy Act, was signed into law by Utah Governor Spencer J. Cox on March 24, 2022. This makes Utah the fifth state to pass its own privacy law instead of waiting for the...more
Governor Mark Gordon signed the Wyoming Genetic Data Privacy Act into law on March 8, 2022. The law goes into effect on July 1, 2022.
The Genetic Data Privacy Act requires any business that collects genetic data from...more
There is a federal law, the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA), that requires app developers to obtain parental consent before collecting information from children under the age of 13. The law has been on the...more
3/11/2022
/ Children's Products ,
Children's Toys ,
Connected Items ,
COPPA ,
Data Collection ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Information Technology ,
Mobile Apps ,
Mobile Device Management ,
Online Safety for Children ,
Personally Identifiable Information ,
Smart Devices
Kronos, Inc., has agreed to (and a federal judge has preliminarily approved) a $15.3 million settlement to resolve claims that it violated the Illinois Biometric Information Privacy Act (BIPA) by collecting biometric...more
2/25/2022
/ Biometric Information ,
Biometric Information Privacy Act ,
Class Action ,
Data Collection ,
Data Privacy ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Litigation ,
Fingerprints ,
Personal Data ,
Personally Identifiable Information ,
Settlement
CYBERSECURITY -
FBI and DHS Warn of Russian Cyberattacks Against Critical Infrastructure -
U.S. officials this week warned government agencies, cybersecurity personnel, and operators of critical infrastructure that...more
2/18/2022
/ Biometric Information Privacy Act ,
Cyber Attacks ,
Cybersecurity ,
Data Breach ,
Data Collection ,
Data Privacy ,
Data Protection ,
Department of Homeland Security (DHS) ,
Drones ,
Facebook ,
Facial Recognition Technology ,
FBI ,
Hackers ,
Personally Identifiable Information ,
Ransomware ,
Russia ,
Vulnerability Assessments
Texas enacted a biometric information privacy law way back in 2001, which was amended in 2009. That was a long time ago in the context of the development of privacy laws, and even longer when it comes to biometric information...more
2/18/2022
/ Biometric Information ,
Data Collection ,
Data Privacy ,
Facebook ,
Facial Recognition Technology ,
Notice Requirements ,
Online Platforms ,
Personal Data ,
Personally Identifiable Information ,
Regulatory Requirements ,
Social Media ,
Statutory Violations
I have written about the privacy concerns of facial recognition technology many times before.
Many individuals are unaware of how facial recognition technology works, who is collecting their facial geometry, and how...more