On January 1, 2026, broad new privacy laws will take effect in Kentucky, Indiana, and Rhode Island, granting consumers in those states greater control over their personal data. With these additions, 19 states now have comprehensive privacy laws in place, which is a significant shift in the data privacy landscape since California led the way in 2018 with the
Enforcement + Litigation
Lights, Camera, [AI] Action: India’s Recent Celebrity Deepfake Lawsuits
December 2025 saw India’s courts in New Delhi and Mumbai tackle a new breed of lawsuits: leading Indian cinema celebrities fighting back against unauthorized deepfakes and AI-generated impersonations. Nandamuri Taraka Rama Rao (NTR Jr.), R. Madhavan, and Shilpa Shetty—all famous Indian actors—filed and won powerful court orders aimed at blocking the spread of synthetic images…
Universal Music Group Takes Center Stage with Recent California Court Narrowing of CIPA Class Action
The recent decision in Wiley v. Universal Music Group highlights how courts are scrutinizing website operators’ privacy controls and representations, particularly regarding cookie banners and opt-out tools. 2025 WL 3654085 (N.D. Cal. Dec. 17, 2025). In a recent decision, although Universal Music Group (UMG) dodged most of the putative class claims over its handling of…
Can Law Enforcement Access Google Search Data Without a Warrant? Pennsylvania Says Yes
Overview of Commonwealth v. Kurtz
On December 16, 2025, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court held that individuals do not have a reasonable expectation of privacy in general, unprotected Google search records. Commonwealth v. Kurtz, No. 98 MAP 2023 (Pa. Dec. 16, 2025). In this criminal case, law enforcement obtained a so-called “reverse keyword search warrant” from…
Massachusetts High Court Weighs Instagram Lawsuit: Is Meta Getting Kids Hooked — And Is That Illegal?
Last week, Massachusetts’ Supreme Judicial Court delved into a case with potentially national implications: should Meta platforms face a lawsuit alleging that Instagram’s design illegally hooks kids with addictive features?
The justices appeared divided as they questioned whether Meta’s practices are protected by Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act, the law that shields online…
Texas Puts Registration on Hold for Consent-Based Marketing
On November 6, 2025, Texas reached a settlement regarding Senate Bill 140 (SB 140), which set forth amendments to the “state’s mini-TCPA” (Chapters 301-305 of the state’s Business and Commerce Code). In a joint motion to dismiss, the state clarified that businesses who only send marketing texts to users who have opted in need not…
FTC Settles With Illuminate for Data Breach of $10M Students’ Data
On December 1, 2025, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) approved a proposed complaint and order against Illuminate Education, Inc., an education technology provider requiring it to “to implement a data security program and delete unnecessary data to settle allegations that the company’s data security failures led to a major data breach, which allowed hackers to…
Proposed TCPA Class Action Against QuoteWizard
A recent lawsuit filed in the United States District Court for the Western District of North Carolina is spotlighting risks businesses face when using prerecorded telemarketing messages without proper consent. The case, Toledo v. QuoteWizard.com, LLC, 3:2025CV00949 (W.D.N.C. 11.24.25) alleges that QuoteWizard, an insurance comparison subsidiary of LendingTree, violated the Telephone Consumer Protection Act…
Lessons from the Sling TV CCPA Settlement: Why a Compliance Overhaul May Be Needed
The California Attorney General (CA AG) has again made waves in the privacy world, this time with a settlement requiring Sling TV to pay a $530,000 fine and make significant operational changes due to alleged violations of the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) and Unfair Competition Law (UCL). This case signals an increase in CCPA…
$1.4 Million Settlement for California Privacy Violation: What the Jam City Settlement Means for CCPA Enforcement
Jam City, Inc., a prominent mobile gaming company behind popular franchises such as Harry Potter and Frozen, has agreed to pay $1.4 million in civil penalties to resolve allegations that it violated the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) by failing to provide adequate privacy opt-out mechanisms for its users. This resolution, announced by…