Benjamin Barnes

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Deception and Unfair Practices Come Preinstalled

By Benjamin Barnes and Alan L. Friel on October 23, 2017 Posted in Internet of Things, Online Privacy

Lenovo, a manufacturer of personal computers, recently agreed, among other things, to implement a software security program in a settlement with the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) over issues with third-party software preinstalled on some laptops. The software was later found to have significant security vulnerabilities that put consumers’ personal information at risk. The software created … Continue Reading

FCC Broadband Privacy Rule Dead and Buried

By Alan L. Friel, Moustafa Badreldin and Benjamin Barnes on April 5, 2017 Posted in Behavioral Advertising, Cybersecurity, Federal Legislation

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Privacy and Data Security Rule for broadband internet access service (BIAS) providers (the Privacy Rule) is dead. As we discussed here, the new rule that was set to start phased implementation was recently put on hold. We detailed what the Privacy Rule would have required in prior blog posts available … Continue Reading

Unexpected Consumer Data Collection Concerns FTC

By Alan L. Friel and Benjamin Barnes on March 15, 2017 Posted in Behavioral Advertising, Big Data, Geolocation, Marketing, Mobile Privacy, Retail Industry

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has been turning its attention to consumer data collection and use that consumers may not expect, such as tracking of TV viewing by smart TVs, and use of cross-device technologies and techniques to try to associate users and households to multiple devices (e.g., TVs, mobile phones, tablets, computers, and other … Continue Reading

Legal Issues to Consider Before Starting Big Data Projects

By Judy Selby and Benjamin Barnes on February 23, 2015 Posted in Big Data

We read every day about the myriad of purposes for which enterprises are embarking on Big Data projects. Securing C-suite buy in and funding may be a significant endeavor, as is implementing an analytic approach to yield results that will achieve the project’s overall goals. In the face of those challenges, the legal and regulatory … Continue Reading

2014 Information Governance Year in Review

By Judy Selby, James A. Sherer and Benjamin Barnes on December 19, 2014 Posted in Information Governance

2014 has been perhaps the biggest year Information Governance (“IG”) has seen. A relatively small and, if not unknown, at least undefined field only a few years ago has grown into an area of interest—and concern—to many organizations. The continued growth of data, the escalating threat of data breaches, the amazing ability to collect and … Continue Reading