California’s privacy regulator has launched its first-ever audit, signaling a new phase of active oversight under the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) and its amendments. The California Privacy Protection Agency (CPPA) is focusing on delivery and transportation apps in the gig economy, examining how platforms collect and use personal information from both consumers and workers
Consumer Information
New DROP Requirements Raise the Stakes for Data Brokers Handling Californians’ Personal Information
By Kathryn Rattigan on
Posted in Data Privacy
California’s SB 361 expands California’s Delete Act and will soon require registered data brokers to regularly check California’s data deletion database, known as DROP, to determine whether a California consumer has requested deletion of their personal information. Beginning August 1, 2026, data brokers must access DROP at least every 45 days and, when a request…
Federal Trade Commission Approves Settlement with Lenovo Over Ad Software
By Linn Foster Freedman on
Posted in Cybersecurity, Data Privacy
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has approved its proposed settlement with Lenovo, Inc. over the installation of pre-installed advertising software called VisualDiscovery onto Lenovo laptops. According to the FTC, the pre-installed software “interfered with how a user’s browser interacted with websites and created serious security vulnerabilities.”
The settlement requires Lenovo to not misrepresent the features…
Data brokers settle with FTC for selling consumers’ information to scammers
By Kathryn Rattigan on
Posted in Enforcement + Litigation
SiteSearch, John Ayers, LeapLab and Leads Company (the defendants) settled with the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) for “knowingly provid[ing] scammers with hundreds of thousands of consumers’ sensitive personal information.”
SiteSearch will pay $4.1 million default judgment, while the other defendants’ monetary obligations are suspended based on inability to pay. Those defendants are prohibited from selling…