By Cynthia Larose and Elana Safner

The Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”) has handed down its largest civil penalty ever for violations of the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (“COPPA”). Musical.ly, now known as TikTok after a 2018 merger, agreed to a fine of $5.7 million for its violations. The settlement was significant not only because of its record amount, but also because it includes a specific agreement on how the website will operate going forward.

By Cynthia Larose and Brian Lam

This webinar provides an overview of the act including who it applies to, the types of data covered, and the new rights granted by the act such as data access, deletion, and portability.

By Cynthia Larose, Katharine Beattie, and Jennifer Budoff

Many employers maintain policies limiting their employees’ expectation of privacy in the workplace, including policies that eliminate any expectation of privacy when using company-issued electronic devices. While employers may think that having such a policy would protect them from invasion of privacy claims under the Fourth Amendment or state law, a recent federal court decision may cause employers to think otherwise. This post examines this decision and provides best practices for avoiding issues with employees’ privacy interests.

By Cynthia Larose and Brian Lam

“Privacy by design” – while not a new concept – is certainly enjoying a new spot in the sunshine thanks to the European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation (“GDPR”) (93 days and counting…) and its codification of “privacy by design and default” in Article 25.

Privacy can also be a key differentiator and a competitive advantage. Read on for some points that can help drive your data privacy/data management program.

By Cynthia Larose and Brian Lam

Recently, the Electronic Privacy Information Center (“EPIC”) asked the FTC to begin an investigation into a Google program called “Store Sales Management.”  The purpose of Store Sales Management is to allow for the matching goods purchased in physical brick and mortar stores to the clicking of online ads, or as we refer to the practice, “Bricks to Clicks.”

By Cynthia Larose and Brian Lam

Recently, Uber agreed to a proposed Federal Trade Commission (FTC) consent order (“Consent Order”) to settle charges in an FTC complaint (“Complaint”) regarding behavior stemming back to at least 2014. Acting Chairman Maureen K. Ohlhausen has stressed the implications this has for other companies:

By Cynthia Larose and Jane Haviland

A Pew Research Center Report relayed useful information regarding application users’ concerns with sharing personal data.  Ninety percent of app users indicated that how their personal data will be used is “very” or “somewhat” important to them, and influences their decision to download an app.  Sixty percent of users decided against downloading an app when they saw how much personal information they would need to share.  Android 6.0, or Marshmallow, should abate users’ concerns.