On August 15, 2025, notetaker app Otter.ai, Inc. was named a defendant in litigation alleging that its artificial intelligence-powered meeting assistant called Otter Notetaker, which “engages in real-time transcription of Google Meet, Zoom, and Microsoft Teams meetings for Otter accountholders and other users…records, accesses and records the contents of private conversations between Otter accountholders who
Electronic Communications Privacy Act
Controversy looms over ECPA amendment in wake of Orlando terrorist attack
By Jim Merrifield on
Posted in Data Privacy
After the terrorist attack in Orlando, Florida, early this month, the Electronic Communications Privacy Act (ECPA) has been discussed quite a bit. The ECPA, a law which took effect in 1986, limits the government’s access to electronic communications and other information. Due to the advancement in technology over the past 30 years, Congress finds itself…
Berkeley students sue Google for mining emails for ads through Apps for Education
By Linn Foster Freedman on
Posted in Enforcement + Litigation
Four students attending the University of California, Berkeley, sued Google last week alleging that it violated the Electronic Communications Privacy Act by scanning and mining their emails in order to create advertising profiles after telling the university that emails would be private. The lawsuit claims that Google told Berkeley and other colleges and universities that…
Google seeks dismissal or stay of email scanning litigation
By Brian Wheelin on
Google has recently asked a California federal court to dismiss a proposed class action alleging that the company’s practice of scanning Gmail users e-mail for marketing data violates federal and state privacy laws, primarily the Electronic Communications Privacy Act (ECPA).
The crux of Google’s motion is that users of the company’s highly popular Gmail consent…