Socially Aware

October 10, 2014 - Privacy
Breaking Old Ground: California Again Amends Data Security Breach Law
By: Nathan D. Taylor
Not to be outdone by Florida, California has yet again amended its data security breach law and again in groundbreaking (yet confusing) fashion. On September 30, 2014, California Governor Brown signed into law a bill ( “AB 1710” ) that appears to impose the
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August 05, 2014 - Privacy
Picture This: Online Photos and Big Data
As the quality of visual recognition software continues to improve, privacy concerns have grown concomitantly. Because we now document our lives with so many pictures posted to social media— Facebook hosts over 250 billion photos, with 350 million new photos added every day —photographs
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July 20, 2014 - Privacy, Litigation
Data for the Taking: Using the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act to Combat Web Scraping
By: Aaron P. Rubin
“Web scraping” or “web harvesting”—the practice of extracting large amounts of data from publicly available websites using automated “bots” or “spiders”—accounted for 18% of site visitors and 23% of all Internet traffic in 2013. Websites targeted by scrapers may incur damages resulting from, among
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June 27, 2014 - Privacy, Wearable Computers
Google Glass Into Europe – A Small Step or a Giant Leap?
Google Glass (“Glass”) is the most high profile of the new wearable technologies that commentators predict will transform how we live and work. Until now, the Android-powered glasses were only available in the U.S. However, as of this week, Glass has been launched in
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June 13, 2014 - Privacy
“Do You Want to Know a Secret?” The Risks Posed by Anonymous Social Apps
First we had social media platforms, but recently a variety of “anti-social” media platforms have emerged—well, anti-social in a sense. For years, social media platforms have encouraged (or even, in some cases, required) us to use our real identities, with the aim of building
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May 27, 2014 - Privacy
California AG Offers Best Practices for Do Not Track Disclosures; Crucial Compliance Questions Left Unanswered
By: Julie O'Neill
California Attorney General Kamala Harris released a long-awaited report entitled Making Your Privacy Practices Public (Report) on May 21, 2014. The Report recommends “best practices” for compliance with the California Online Privacy Protection Act (CalOPPA). It was originally intended to answer critical questions about
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May 20, 2014 - Privacy, Litigation
French Consumer Association Takes on Internet Giants
Earlier this year, the French consumer association UFC-Que Choisir initiated proceedings before the Paris District Court against Google Inc., Facebook Inc. and Twitter Inc., accusing these companies of using confusing and unlawful online privacy policies and terms of use agreements in the French versions
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May 15, 2014 - Privacy, Litigation
European Court of Justice Strengthens Right to Be Forgotten
The European Court of Justice (ECJ) issued a quite surprising decision against Google which has significant implications for global companies. On May 13, 2014 the ECJ issued a ruling which did not follow the rationale or the conclusions of its Advocate General, but instead
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May 13, 2014 - FTC, Privacy
Snap Judgment: FTC Alleges Snapchat Did Not Keep Its Privacy and Security Promises, But Suggests Broad New Duty in the Process
Snapchat’s recent settlement with the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) generally provides a comprehensive but not groundbreaking roadmap to the FTC’s privacy and data security expectations in the mobile environment under Section 5 of the FTC Act, with two very notable exceptions: It now appears
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May 02, 2014 - Privacy, Litigation
If You Host Videos on Your Website, Read This Blog Post Regarding the Video Privacy Protection Act
By: Julie O'Neill
In a much anticipated decision in the class action In re Hulu Privacy Litigation , U.S. Magistrate Judge Laurel Beeler of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California has shed new light on the meaning of “personally identifiable information” (PII) under
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