The UK is reportedly considering legislation that would impose a ‘duty of care’ on social media companies to regulate harmful content on their platforms. This push for an online safety bill was triggered by the high-profile death of a 14-year-old by suicide. The child had been repeatedly exposed to online content encouraging viewers to engage
Enforcement + Litigation
Class Action Filed Against Commonwealth of Massachusetts for Alleged COVID-19 Contact-Tracing Spyware Installation
This week, a lawsuit was filed in the U.S. District Court of Massachusetts against the Commonwealth of Massachusetts for its use of a COVID-19 contact-tracing app for residents’ mobile phones. However, very few residents voluntarily downloaded the app. The solution? The lawsuit alleges that Massachusetts caused the app to be downloaded to certain residents’ mobile…
Texas Sues Google for Gathering Biometric Data
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton filed a lawsuit against Google for alleged “blatant defiance” of Texas’s biometric privacy law, which prohibits capturing biometric identifiers without prior consumer consent. The complaint alleges that several Google products, including Google Home, Nest, and Google Photos, collect and catalog biometric identifiers such as facial structure and voice print.
Texas…
Samsung Sued Under CCPA
A class action lawsuit, Seirafi et al v. Samsung Electronics America, Inc., Case 4:22-cv-05176-KAW, filed recently in the Northern District of California, alleges that Samsung’s unnecessary personal information collection, and failure to secure that information, violate the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA). This lawsuit was inspired by two recent data breaches that allegedly included personal…
Ireland Fines Instagram €405 Million for Children’s Data Violations
Ireland’s Data Privacy Commissioner will reportedly fine Instagram for its handling of children’s data. According to an investigation that began in 2020, Instagram published emails and phone numbers for children ages 13 to 17 who operated business accounts. Business accounts typically post this information by default. Meta, Instagram’s parent, plans to appeal the €405 million…
FTC Sues Data Broker for Selling Data from Reproductive Clinics and Places of Worship
In a complaint filed this week, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) alleges that a data broker sold geolocation data from individuals showing their movements to and from sensitive locations, including reproductive health clinics, places of worship, and substance use disorder clinics. Kochava, the broker in question, allegedly collects and sells GPS location data from consumers…
ParkMobile Can’t Escape Data Breach Class Action
The class action lawsuit will continue against ParkMobile LLC for a data breach that affected 21 million users of the parking app (Baker v. ParkMobile LLC).The ParkMobile app allows users to pay for parking without having to use a traditional meter. The complaint alleges that ParkMobile was negligent in its safeguarding of consumer…
Oracle Accused of Invading Privacy with Tracking Technologies
A new class action lawsuit was filed in federal court in California against Oracle America, Inc., alleging that it A new class action lawsuit was filed in federal court in California against Oracle America, Inc., alleging that it has been invading consumers’ privacy by using tracking technologies to build “digital dossiers” on individual internet users…
Court Rules that Universities Can’t Scan Students’ Rooms During Remote Testing
In a case brought against Cleveland State University, a federal court has ruled that it is unconstitutional for a state university to require a student to allow a virtual camera scan of their home testing area during a remote In a case brought against Cleveland State University, a federal court has ruled that it is…
Sephora Settles with California AG for CCPA Violations over Sale of Data
In the first of its kind under the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA), Sephora settled an enforcement action with the California Attorney General for violation of the CCPA. Sephora must pay $1.2 million in penalties and implement a CCPA compliance program. The enforcement action alleged that Sephora permitted third parties to create customer profiles that…