Many readers questioned me about the Wall Street Journal article this week entitled, “Facebook to Banks: Give Us Your Data, We’ll Give you Our Users.” The questions and comments ranged from “Can they really do this?” to “This is outrageous!” Without getting into a legal analysis, there are laws that banks have to follow when … Continue Reading
December is traditionally a busy month for charitable giving, as many donors are inspired by the holiday season to give generously to those in need, while others look to make year-end gifts that will qualify for a tax deduction in the current tax year. Unfortunately, because of the increase in charitable giving, there is often … Continue Reading
Vevo announced this week that it experienced an intrusion into its servers by the hacking collective OurMine, self-described as a white hat organization that informs individuals and organizations of potential security vulnerabilities. When OurMine reached out to Vevo to inform it of a vulnerability, a Vevo employee dismissed the claim and told OurMine that they … Continue Reading
Today, the Spanish data protection agency (AEPD) fined Facebook 1.2 million euros ($1.4 million USD) in connection with how the company collects personal data for advertising purposes. The AEPD said Facebook did not get properly informed consent from users before exploiting this data as well as kept this data longer than it’s useful purpose. In … Continue Reading
Facebook says that someday ‘the password’ will be a distant memory. But for now, passwords are certainly necessary. However, Facebook has released a beta version of its Delegated Account Recovery software –a new way for social networks to be the backup security key when online consumers forget their password on different, non-Facebook websites and services. … Continue Reading
In the ongoing saga of Facebook’s challenge of the Illinois Biometric Law, it declared last week that the Illinois law violates the United States Constitution. According to Facebook’s Answer in a suit filed against it in California, the law is unconstitutional because it violates the Commerce Clause, which limits states from enacting legislation that would … Continue Reading
I am watching Game 7 of the World Series, and it is the bottom of the 8th and the score is 6-6. It is very difficult to concentrate on this blog post. So I am taking the easy way out and reminding you to check the privacy settings on your LinkedIn account. What is the … Continue Reading
A recent nationwide poll conducted by The Rad Campaign and Lincoln Park Strategies shows that although 96 percent of American social media users distrust the ability of social media platforms to protect their personal information, they still use them. According to the poll, users are very concerned about the protection of their information and would … Continue Reading
We reported last week that Oracle’s MICROS point-of-sale devices had been compromised. On the heels of the compromise, Visa sent out a security alert last Friday to merchants warning companies that use Oracle’s MICROS point-of-sale devices to check the machines for malicious software or unusual activity, and to change passwords on the devices. The Visa … Continue Reading
Social media users should beware of online scams purporting to offer free Aer Lingus flights. One scam asks users to fill out a questionnaire for a chance to win Aer Lingus tickets in celebration of Aer Lingus’ 80th anniversary. Once they have completed the questionnaire, users are told they have won two free tickets to … Continue Reading
On February 9, 2012, Robert Bishop was arrested and charged with one count of cyberbullying under the North Carolina Cyberbullying statute, which states that it is “unlawful for any person to use a computer or computer network to…[p]ost or encourage others to post on the Internet private, personal, or sexual information pertaining to a minor””[w]ith … Continue Reading
On May 26, 2016, Illinois Senator Terry Link filed a proposed amendment to the Illinois Biometric Information Privacy Act that would presumably ease the rules relating to the collection and use of biometric data. What irked some is that he reportedly tacked it onto a bill that deals with unclaimed property. The next day, Senator … Continue Reading
We previously reported that Shutterfly’s effort to dismiss the proposed biometrics class action case against it was unsuccessful [view related post] The proposed class action suit alleged that Shutterfly violated the Illinois Biometric Information Privacy Act because Shutterfly measured the contours of the named plaintiff’s face to create a template that it used to suggest … Continue Reading
Litigating companies Google and Oracle have mutually agreed, at the strong recommendation of the presiding judge, to refrain from researching the social media accounts of a potential jury pool before and during a high stakes copyright infringement trial. Google and Oracle have both agreed not to research the social media accounts of the potential or … Continue Reading
Filed under the title of creative lawyering, a putative class action case has been filed against Facebook in federal court in Northern California alleging that health care providers and medical organizations have violated HIPAA by allowing Facebook to access user data from searches on the medical providers’ websites. The plaintiffs allege that when they visit … Continue Reading
A new report released by Osterman Research, sponsored by Actiance, GWAVA and Smarsh, tells us that social media is one of the biggest security threats for companies. Malware is increasingly making its way into companies via their employees’ social media accounts. Overall, the report found that only 54% of companies have a written social media … Continue Reading
The constant and evolving release of new apps used by employees both personally and in the workplace continue to present challenges to employers in the implementation and execution of workplace policies designed to protect employees, particularly those involving sexual harassment, anti-discrimination and bullying. These challenges are no longer limited solely to social media websites such … Continue Reading
The list of states that have passed social media legislation is getting longer. Early next week, Oklahoma will become the newest state to consider social media legislation (along with approximately 23 others) to prohibit employers from asking employees or applicants to provide them with their social media account passwords and from being forced to access … Continue Reading
When an individual signs up for a new online account, the process typically requires an agreement to the provider’s terms of service. While service providers often have policies controlling what will happen on the death of an account holder, individuals rarely read the terms of service. Nevertheless, the user is technically informed of these policies … Continue Reading
Last week, the Vienna Higher Regional Court ruled that most of Max Schrems’ claims against Facebook can proceed, including his claim that Facebook improperly allowed his personal information to be shared with the National Security Agency. So his case can move forward, but the court did not allow him to represent other claimants in a … Continue Reading
The Second Circuit Court of Appeals recently upheld the National Labor Relations Board’s (NLRB) decision that employees’ Facebook posts are protected by the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA). Three D, LLC d/b/a Triple Play Sports Bar and Grille v. National Labor Relations Board. The case involved two employees and a former employee engaged in a … Continue Reading
Twitter International Company (TIC) in Dublin, Ireland was reportedly ordered by a High Court to disclose data about the source of tweets about a whistleblower. The tweets, which included allegations of insurance fraud, are alleged to be defamatory. The whistleblower provided the government with evidence that Irish hospital staff were accepting lavish gifts from a … Continue Reading
Many business have suffered the misery and frustration of a harshly negative, anonymous online review. That anonymity, critics argue, frees the reviewer from worries about the need for accuracy and, worse yet, encourages the spiteful posting of false accusations designed to drive away customers. In competitive markets, the targeted business has no choice but to … Continue Reading
On August 19, 2015, MeetMe, Inc. (MeetMe), a social networking website and mobile app, agreed to pay $200,000 and to change its privacy policies to settle a lawsuit alleging that MeetMe distributed teenagers’ geolocation and personal information, without consent, to predators, stalkers, and advertisers. The allegations were filed by the city of San Francisco, charging … Continue Reading
