Privacy and Data Security

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…

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…

The Supreme Court has started its new term.  FTC defense practitioners are watching closely as the Court is considering issues that may dramatically impact FTC CID investigations and enforcement actions, particularly whether Section 13(b) of the FTC Act impliedly authorizes courts to award the FTC equitable monetary relief. The Supreme Court Has Already Limited Disgorgement…

FTC compliance and defense lawyer Richard B. Newman recently authored an article for National Law Review titled “Update on the Assault Upon FTC Enforcement Authority: Monetary Disgorgement Challenges and Executive Direction to Reform Agency Operations.” The article examines the U.S. Supreme Court in Liu v. SEC, the limits placed upon the SEC’s ability to seek monetary…

The Federal Trade Commission recently testified at an oversight hearing before the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation about the agency’s work to protect consumers and promote competition, including its efforts to combat frauds designed to take advantage of consumers during the COVID-19 pandemic. Testifying on behalf of the Commission, FTC Chairman Joseph Simons…

Legislation was recently introduced in the Senate that would significantly bolster the Federal Trade Commission’s authority to enforce privacy and data security laws, and preempt the patchwork of presently existing data privacy regimes. Intended to address those that utilize, process and benefit from consumer data in “unfair and deceptive ways,” the Consumer Data Privacy and…