Welcome to Socially Aware

Socially Aware is devoted to the law and business of social media, proactively addressing emerging issues and keeping our clients informed of new developments. We cover fields such as artificial intelligence, privacy and data security, Section 230, intellectual property, and much more.

July 19, 2015 - Terms of Use, Mobile
Mobile App Legal Terms & Conditions: Six Key Considerations
By: Anthony M. Ramirez
For corporations, the mobile app is today’s website. Back in the late 1990s, no self-respecting company, no matter how stodgy and old-fashioned, wanted to be without a website. Today, the same is true with mobile apps. It doesn’t matter what industry a company is
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July 17, 2015 - Privacy, Employment Law, Compliance
Employer Access to Employee Social Media: Applicant Screening, “Friend” Requests and Workplace Investigations
By: Melissa M. Crespo
A recent survey of hiring managers and human resource professionals reports that more than 43 percent of employers use social networking sites to research job candidates. This interest in social networking does not end when the candidate is hired: To the contrary, companies are seeking
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July 15, 2015 - Bankruptcy, Privacy
“Never Say Never”: Lessons From RadioShack’s Sale of Customer Information
When a bankrupt company’s most valuable assets include consumer information, a tension arises between bankruptcy policy aimed at maximizing asset value, on the one hand, and privacy laws designed to protect consumers’ personal information, on the other. Such tension played out recently in the
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July 09, 2015 - E-Commerce, Status Updates
Status Updates: Pinterest’s new purchasing feature; Driving while social; and a small country’s Facebook ban
Pin money. The social media site Pinterest, a 5-year-old Internet powerhouse with an $11 billion valuation , is implementing another feature intended to bring in some cash : Buyable Pins. Soon, the site’s users—who, according to demographics reports, are often affluent women—will be able
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July 07, 2015 - Status Updates, Copyright, Mobile, IP
Status Updates: Artist sues Pinterest; texting for teens without data plans; quit smoking with social media
By: Aaron P. Rubin
Pin pain. As a primarily visual social media platform whose self-described purpose is to help users bookmark and save “ good stuff you find anywhere around the web ,” Pinterest has raised copyright infringement questions since it became explosively popular in 2012. In many
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July 07, 2015 - Internet of Things, Marketing, Privacy, Cloud Computing, Wearable Computers
Toward a Grand Unifying Theory of Today’s Tech Trends
As a technology law blogger and co-editor of Socially Aware , I monitor emerging developments in information technology. What’s hot in IT today? Any shortlist would have to include social media, mobile, wearable technology, the Internet of Things (IoT), cloud computing and big data.
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June 30, 2015 - Online Promotions, Terms of Use, Labor Law, Copyright, Employment Law, Arbitration, IP, Litigation
Five Social Media Law Issues To Discuss With Your Clients
By: Aaron P. Rubin
The explosive growth of social media has clients facing legal questions that didn’t even exist a few short years ago. Helping your clients navigate this muddled legal landscape will have them clicking “like” in no time. What’s in a Like? Not long ago, the
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June 29, 2015 - Terms of Use, Online Reviews
The Right to Give One-Star Reviews
By: Aaron P. Rubin
Congress has taken a step toward protecting consumers’ rights to post negative reviews on websites like Ripoff Report or Yelp with the introduction, by Representative Darrell E. Issa of California, of the Consumer Review Freedom Act of 2015 (the CFRA). The CFRA follows a
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June 23, 2015 - SEC
The Guide to Social Media and Securities Law
The growing use of social media has created challenges for federal securities regulators and, given the significance of social media as a preferred method of communication for a large percentage of market participants, the need to adapt Federal securities laws and the regulatory framework
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June 19, 2015 - Online Promotions, Marketing, Privacy
Digital Advertising Alliance Focuses on Mobile Ads
By: Julie O'Neill
As more users spend more time on their mobile devices, advertising dollars are following. And the compliance regime that governs interest-based advertising (IBA) (formerly referred to as online behavioral advertising or OBA) is expanding as well. (IBA is the collection of information about users’
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