Earlier this year, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court held that users generally lack a reasonable expectation of privacy in unprotected Google search records, underscoring how aggressively some courts are still applying third-party doctrine principles to digital data. Commonwealth v. Kurtz, 348 A.3d 133 (Pa. 2025). Our previous blog post on Kurtz is available here.
OpenAI’s New Privacy Filter: A Development with Limits
On April 22, 2026, OpenAI released its new Privacy Filter tool, designed to identify and mask sensitive information in text before that text is stored, shared, or used in downstream processing. OpenAI says the tool can detect items such as names, addresses, account numbers, private dates, and other personal data in documents, logs, and datasets
Click to Join, Hard to Leave: FTC Reopens Negative Option Rulemaking
On March 11, 2026, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) announced an Advance Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (ANPRM) highlighting its Rule Concerning the Use of Prenotification Negative Option Plans, seeking comment on whether the rule should be amended or supplemented to better address deceptive or unfair negative option practices.
The FTC describes negative options as marketing
Not Every Wiretap Claim Belongs in Federal Court: Federal Court Sends Pennsylvania Case Back to State Court
While California’s wiretapping statute, the California Invasion of Privacy Act (CIPA), tends to dominate the conversation about the recent rise in wiretapping litigation, plaintiffs are also turning to other states’ wiretapping laws to target web tracking and session-replay tools. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit recently held that a website visitor could
Oklahoma Joins Comprehensive State Privacy Law Landscape
On March 20, 2026, Oklahoma Governor Kevin Stitt signed into law Enrolled Senate Bill No. 546, a comprehensive privacy law that will go into effect on January 1, 2027—this makes Oklahoma the 21st state to enact a comprehensive privacy law. The bill follows the common model used in many state privacy statutes: it grants
Whose Voice Is It Anyway: The Likeness Line in AI Product Design
A recent class action complaint filed in the Southern District of New York, Angwin v. Superhuman Platform, Inc., No. 26 Civ. 02005, 2026 WL 704131 (S.D.N.Y. 3/11/26), highlights an evolving issue in artificial intelligence (AI) product design: what happens when an AI feature uses a real person’s name or identity as part of
Soft Selling Text Messages Could Count as Solicitations Under the TCPA
The U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Georgia, in Veronica Bramlett, on behalf of herself and all others similarly situated v. RES 360 LLC and Peach City Properties LLC, No. 1:25-CV-3312-MLB (N.D. Ga. Mar. 4, 2026) recently granted in part and denied in part a motion to dismiss a Telephone Consumer Protection
The Fifth Circuit Says You Can’t Write “Written” into the TCPA
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit recently issued a significant Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) decision in Bradford v. Sovereign Pest Control of TX, Inc., No. 24-20379, Doc. 85-1 (5th Cir. Feb. 25, 2026). The court affirmed summary judgment for the company and held that the TCPA’s “prior express consent” standard does
Figure Lending Class Action Highlights a Familiar Threat
Figure Lending, LLC, which markets itself as America’s #1 non-bank Home Equity Line of Credit lender, has been named in a proposed federal class action following a reported cyber incident that allegedly exposed customer personal information. Mardikian v. Figure Lending, LLC, 3:26-cv-00135 (W.D.N.C. Feb. 19, 2026). The complaint alleges that the company’s systems were
Scoring Applicants? Your AI Could Be in FCRA Territory
The Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) is decades old, but a recent artificial intelligence (AI)-related complaint suggests that plaintiffs are testing whether legacy consumer-reporting rules can apply to AI-driven hiring assessments.
In January, a class action complaint was filed in California, Kistler v. Eightfold AI Inc., No. C26-00214 (Cal. Super. Ct. Jan. 20, 2026). Eightfold