No Password Required: An FBI Special Agent's Journey from Submarines to Anti-Corruption to Cybersecurity
On May 3, 2023, in an aggressive move that pushes the boundaries of its authority, the FTC proposed sweeping changes to Facebook parent Meta’s business practices after alleging that the company violated the commission’s 2012...more
On May 3, 2023, the FTC announced that it is proposing a blanket prohibition preventing Facebook from monetizing youth data. The Commission alleges that the company violated the 2020 privacy order and now proposes new...more
In this corner, the U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC): "Facebook has repeatedly violated its privacy promises,” said Samuel Levine, Director of the FTC’s Bureau of Consumer Protection. “The company’s recklessness has...more
2023 continues to be a busy year for European data protection authorities. Following its release of the Irish Data Protection Commission’s (DPC’s) binding decisions in cases against Facebook and Instagram, the European Data...more
As the popularity of cryptocurrency as an investment asset balloons, the number and types of lawsuits involving crypto assets has also increased. Issues such as traceability and effective methods of service are now at the...more
The FTC's case against Facebook will be allowed to proceed now that the district court has held its Amended Complaint plausibly alleged violations of Section 2 of the Sherman Act related to Facebook's acquisition of Instagram...more
All the details from the Fed’s long-awaited tapering announcement on Wednesday, in the central bank laid out a plan for slowing its Covid-era asset-buying program. During comments after the Fed’s release, Chair Powell...more
While presenting this week at the DRI Cybersecurity and Data Privacy Virtual Seminar, I outlined many of the issues currently impacting data security around the world. Here are some key points:.....more
A day after whistleblower Frances Haugen went public with many of the allegations she’s been lobbing at Facebook (so far only through the Wall Street Journal’s recent expose series), Zuck & Co. found themselves mired in one...more
On September 2, 2021, EU regulators fined Facebook-owned chat service, WhatsApp, £225 million (around $266 million) for failing to fully disclose its user data collection and sharing practices. This is the second largest fine...more
When GDPR became effective three years ago, companies took notice of the fines and penalties attached to violations of the stringent privacy law—4 percent of global annual sales....more
Ireland’s Data Protection Commission has imposed a fine of €225 million (more than $267 million) on WhatsApp, a popular messaging app owned by Facebook. Here are some key takeaways for companies subject to GDPR:.....more
Do you want a simple way to keep current on important privacy changes? Avoid sleepless nights wondering whether you missed a privacy speed bump or pothole between annual updates? Worry no longer. Troutman Pepper is pleased to...more
Last week was momentous for the Federal Trade Commission. First, the campaign use antitrust to reign in “Big Tech” faced a setback as the United States District Court for District of Columbia dismissed the FTC’s suit against...more
On June 28, 2021, Judge James E. Boasberg of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia granted Facebook’s motions to dismiss two parallel antitrust complaints filed by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and a group...more
As reported in Law.com, prominent U.K. law firm Linklaters was recently the victim of a spoofing attack through Facebook’s WhatsApp messaging service. Linklaters, founded in 1838, employs nearly 3,000 attorneys, spread out...more
The US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit found that 35 USC § 314(d) did not bar its review of a Patent Trial & Appeal Board determination that a petitioner was not estopped from maintaining inter partes review (IPR)...more
Facebook, the parent company to WhatsApp, is reporting near-record low revenue growth. Thus, presumably in an effort to monetize WhatsApp more heavily, WhatsApp recently announced changes to its privacy policy: as of...more
On December 9, 2020, the escalating conflict between the government and so-called "Big Tech" opened a new front as the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and 48 attorneys general (AGs) filed separate complaints against Facebook,...more
The latest lame-duck Covid relief package proposal would trim about 150 billion dollars (and a number of key sticking points, including funds “to bolster state and local governments, and a temporary coronavirus liability...more
The Trump Administration has focused on competition and the technology sector. First, the Justice Department’s Antitrust Division filed a monopolization case against Google. Last week, the Federal Trade Commission and 46...more
We often think of phony financial institution emails as a bad actor’s phishing scheme of choice to capture confidential bank account numbers or other private financial information. While those phishing emails certainly do...more
India’s Reliance Industries is considering acquiring TikTok’s business in India from ByteDance. We recently discussed the growing distrust by companies and countries of TikTok because of the perceived vulnerability of user...more
While there’s plenty of other business afoot in D.C. these days, it also happens to have been a pretty big week for trade deals. A day after Phase One with China was inked, the Senate overwhelmingly approved a revised...more
With new data pointing to similarities between the Lion Air and Ethiopian Air Boeing 737 Max 8 crashes, the White House has decided to override the FAA and ground all models of the plane in the US....more