Privacy and Data Security
FTC and State Law Enforcers Announce Lead Generation Telemarketing Enforcement Sweep
By Richard B. Newman |
On July 18, 2023, the Federal Trade Commission and more than 100 federal and state law enforcement partners nationwide, including the attorneys general from all 50 states and the District of Columbia, announced a new crackdown on illegal telemarketing calls involving more than 180 actions targeting operations responsible for billions of calls to U.S. consumers.…
Richard B. Newman Quoted in Cybersecurity Law Report on Xbox and Alexa FTC COPPA Case Lessons: Biometrics, Avatars and Other New Expectations
By Richard B. Newman |
FTC advertising compliance and defense lawyer Richard B. Newman was recently quoted in an article for Cybersecurity Law Report titled “Xbox and Alexa COPPA Case Lessons: Avatars, Biometrics and Other New Expectations.” The article discusses the FTC’s recent privacy enforcement run and how it reinforces regulators’ expanding expectations for companies using video and audio recordings, smart devices…
FTC Requires Microsoft to Pay $20 million over Charges it Illegally Collected Personal Information from Children without Parental Consent
By Richard B. Newman |
On June 5, 2023, the FTC announced that Microsoft will pay $20 million to settle agency charges that it violated the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (“COPPA”) by collecting personal information from children that signed up to its Xbox gaming system without notifying their parents or obtaining their parents’ consent, and by illegally retaining children’s…
FTC Explores Environmental Claims and Civil Penalty Rulemakings
By Richard B. Newman |
On May 23, 2023, the Federal Trade Commission hosted a national workshop designed to consider the current state of recycling practices and recycling-related advertising. This follows an FTC announcement in December 2022 that the agency was seeking public comment on potential updates and changes to its ‘Green Guides’ for the use of environment marketing claims. …
Use of Certain Technologies to Track Web Session Data May be Unlawful
By Richard B. Newman |
Attention Lead Generators The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals recently held that use of certain technologies on a websites in order to track and record web session data before obtaining affirmative consent may be a violation of California’s wiretap statute. In the case of Javier v. Assurance IQ, LLC and ActiveProspect Inc. (*not precedent except as…
FTC Urges Congress to Restore Section 13(b) of the FTC Act and Resurrect Penalty Offense Authority
By Richard B. Newman |
As blogged about here, the FTC’s authority to seek monetary disgorgement relief from defendants in federal court is under assault. Consequently, all five FTC Commissioners have recently forwarded a letter to the Chairs and Ranking Minority members of the Senate Commerce and House Energy & Commerce Committees urging the Committees to pass legislation that would…