Tag Archives: consumer privacy

Ohio Proposes Comprehensive Privacy Legislation

Photo of Damon C. BarhorstPhoto of William BerglundBy Damon C. Barhorst and William Berglund on Posted in Consumer Data, Data Protection, Enforcement, Privacy, State Legislation
Ohio recently became the latest state to consider enacting comprehensive privacy legislation. On July 13, 2021, the Ohio Personal Privacy Act (House Bill 376) was introduced into the Ohio House of Representatives with the backing of Ohio Governor Mike DeWine and Lt. Governor Jon Husted. If passed, OPPA would establish consumer data rights for natural … Continue Reading

Context Matters: An ‘Established Business Relationship’ Can Be Created During a ‘Telephone Solicitation,’ Thus Preventing Subsequent Calls From Violating the TCPA

Photo of Rand L. McClellanBy Rand L. McClellan on Posted in Telephone Consumer Protection Act
A federal court has ruled that an “established business relationship” can be created during a call, even if that call is a “telephone solicitation” that violates the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA). Charvat v. Southard Corp., No. 2:18-cv-190 (S.D. Ohio). A copy of the opinion is attached; the defendants in this matter are represented by … Continue Reading

Less Than a Month to Go Until Nevada Privacy Law Effective Date

Photo of Shea M. LeitchBy Alan L. Friel and Shea M. Leitch on Posted in Consumer Data
As discussed in our previous blog post on the topic, Nevada’s amendments to its privacy law are set to go into effect Oct. 1, 2019. Less comprehensive in scope than the much-heralded CCPA, the Nevada privacy law amendment has received significantly less attention than its California counterpart. Even so, the new Nevada privacy law presents … Continue Reading

Texas Moves Forward With Updates to Breach Notification Law and Institutes Privacy Council to Study Data Privacy Legislation

By Will R. Daugherty and Caroline B. Brackeen on Posted in Consumer Data
Texas is one of the many states that looked to be following in the footsteps of California’s enactment of a broad consumer privacy law (the California Consumer Privacy Act), which has far-ranging implications for businesses and consumers. Two comprehensive data privacy bills, HB 4390 and HB 4518, were filed and heard at the last legislative … Continue Reading

Washington Privacy Act Dies in the House While California Continues to Consider Refinements to the CCPA

Photo of Shea M. LeitchBy Shea M. Leitch and Niloufar Massachi on Posted in CCPA, Consumer Data
After passing the Senate nearly unanimously, the Washington Privacy Act (SB 5376) has stalled in the House of Representatives. The bill failed to achieve passage out of committee by the April 17 deadline for consideration of bills originating in the opposite house, and was returned to the Senate on April 28. As a result, SB … Continue Reading

Washington Privacy Act Clears Senate

Photo of Shea M. LeitchBy Shea M. Leitch on Posted in State Legislation
On March 6, SB 5376, the Washington Privacy Act, passed the Washington Senate in an overwhelming 46-1 vote (with two members excused). Prior to its passage, the Senate adopted important revisions and clarifications that would provide important relief for businesses from some of the more onerous provisions of the legislation. As we reported in our … Continue Reading

BakerHostetler Comments On CCPA Rule Making For Clients

By Alan L. Friel on Posted in CCPA, Enforcement
The California attorney general (AG) has kicked of it process of promulgating regulations to interpret and implement California’s sweeping new privacy law. After a series of public hearings across the state, which we covered here and here, the AG closed the initial public comment period on March 8. Our clients have mostly sought to convey their … Continue Reading

States Propose to Expand Child Privacy and Ad Laws

By Alan L. Friel on Posted in Children’s Privacy
It is the 25th anniversary of the federal Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA), which has served us well, but states are looking to expand privacy protection for minors. Several years ago California expanded its Online Privacy Protection Act to give minors the right to remove content they have posted on social media and certain other … Continue Reading

New FTC Provides Insights Into Its Plan for a Balanced Approach to Data Privacy and Security

Photo of Carolina AlonsoBy Alan L. Friel, John Busch and Carolina Alonso on Posted in Federal Legislation, GDPR, Online Privacy
This year brought unprecedented focus on consumer privacy – the rollout of the European Union General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), the Cambridge Analytica controversy and Congressional hearings, a GDPR-light law coming out of California, more and bigger security incidents, and multiple proposals for an omnibus federal data protection law. The Federal Trade Commission (FTC or … Continue Reading

California Legislature Working Feverishly To Avert Privacy Ballot Initiative

By Alan L. Friel on Posted in Advertising, Behavioral Advertising, Online Privacy, Retail Industry, State Legislation
We have previously reported a ballot initiative known as the California Consumer Privacy Act of 2018 (“CCPA”), that is expected to be on the November ballot.  If passed, it would make sweeping changes to consumer privacy protection rights for Californians, likely creating a new national standard.  On June 21st, the California Assembly amended AB- 375, … Continue Reading

Government Access to Private Data: Microsoft Opens a New Front in the Battle for Consumer Privacy

Photo of Eric A. PackelBy Eric A. Packel on Posted in Online Privacy
Prior to the Information Age, sensitive papers were stored in file cabinets and drawers. When home computers arrived, information was digitized and moved to hard drives or other electronic media, still possessed by the user. Today, with the general availability of high-speed Internet service, many individuals are moving information to the so-called cloud – which … Continue Reading

What the FTC’s Settlement With Wyndham Means for Your Company

Photo of Gerald J. FergusonBy Gerald J. Ferguson and Alan L. Friel on Posted in Cybersecurity, Data Breaches
The recent settlement entered into between the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) Wyndham Hotels and Resorts and related companies (Wyndham) provides an important roadmap for companies seeking to avoid running afoul of the FTC’s regulation of data security. In particular, this settlement, as embodied in a Consent Order entered by the Court provides Wyndham Hotels and … Continue Reading

Legal concepts every social media marketer should know: Part II — Rules of the road for online advertising

Photo of Fernando A. Bohorquez, Jr.By Fernando A. Bohorquez, Jr. on Posted in Children’s Privacy, Marketing, Online Privacy
Editor’s Note: This blog post was originally published on August 26, 2013, courtesy of iMedia Connection’s Blog. It is repurposed with permission. This post is co-authored by Alan M. Pate. As long as we have sold stuff, we’ve used images or stories to help sell them. As Calvin Coolidge of all people once said in … Continue Reading

Legal concepts every social media marketer should know: Part I — Consumer privacy

Photo of Fernando A. Bohorquez, Jr.By Fernando A. Bohorquez, Jr. on Posted in Children’s Privacy, Marketing, Mobile Privacy, Online Privacy, Social Media
Editor’s Note: This blog post was originally published on August 12, 2013, courtesy of iMedia Connection’s Blog. It is repurposed with permission. This post is co-authored by Alan M. Pate. There are three things a social media website operator or digital marketer probably hates to hear most before  launching an online ad campaign: 1. Can you make … Continue Reading

FTC Report Shows Rise in Identity Theft Complaints

By Michael Young on Posted in Identity Theft
The Federal Trade Commission has released the Consumer Sentinel Network Data Book, its annual report of complaints filed with the FTC and other state organizations. The report tracks consumer complaints by categories such as fraud, identity theft, and other. Fraud complaints span 30 different categories, including debt collection, bank/lending services, prizes/sweepstakes/lotteries, impostor scams, shop-at-home and … Continue Reading

White House Releases Consumer Online “Privacy Bill of Rights”

Photo of Erica Gann KitaevBy Erica Gann Kitaev on Posted in Federal Legislation, Online Privacy
The Obama Administration today unveiled a report entitled Consumer Data Privacy in a Networked World:  A Framework for Protecting Privacy and Promoting Innovation in the Global Digital Economy.  A central component of the report, which is directed at improving online privacy protections, is a “Consumer Privacy Bill of Rights.”  The Consumer Privacy Bill of Rights … Continue Reading

Noteworthy Data Privacy and Information Security Events in 2010

Photo of Craig A. HoffmanBy Craig A. Hoffman on Posted in Behavioral Advertising, Breach Notification, Data Breach Notification Laws, Enforcement, Federal Legislation, Financial Privacy, HIPAA/HITECH, Information Security, Medical Privacy, Online Privacy
The two events that drew the most attention in 2010, both of which occurred at year-end, were reports from the FTC and the Department of Commerce.  Below is a brief summary of those two reports and other issues drawing attention in the past year: (1) FTC Issues Long-Awaited Consumer Privacy Policy Report On December 1, … Continue Reading
LexBlog