Socially Aware

April 03, 2023 - Section 230 Safe Harbor, Privacy, Marketing, Online Promotions
Social Links: Section 230 Under Scrutiny (Again) From Lawmakers
By: Aaron P. Rubin, Julie O'Neill and Anthony M. Ramirez
Section 23o, the “ 26 words that changed the Internet ,” is once again under scrutiny from lawmakers. At the federal level, Republicans and Democrats on the Senate Judiciary panel’s subcommittee on privacy, technology, and the law found common ground in their calls to
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February 15, 2023 - Data Security, Privacy
Fourth Circuit Addresses Whether the CDA Bars Fair Credit Reporting Act Claims Against Online Background Report Site
By: J. Alexander Lawrence, Aaron P. Rubin and Dillon Kraus
Websites offering online background reports have proliferated on the Internet. Consumers asserting claims against such sites under the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) have faced hurdles under Section 230(c)(1) of the Communications Decency Act (CDA). Operators of the sites argue that they are online service providers
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April 04, 2022 - Advertising, Digital Content, E-Commerce, Privacy, Social Media Policy
Social Links: Behavioral targeting under scrutiny from lawmakers
By: Aaron P. Rubin, Julie O'Neill and Anthony M. Ramirez
Lawmakers on Capitol Hill continue to take aim at social media platforms that collect and use personal information that build algorithms to target individuals across a variety of dimensions when users engage with those platforms, most prominently in the form of advertising and other
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January 20, 2022 - Privacy
Forgot to Cancel? Pay Attention to Recent Auto-Renewal Law Changes
By: Julie O'Neill
As subscription models have gained exponential traction, legislatures are clamoring to ensure that their auto-renewal laws keep up with novel consumer protection issues. Several states have introduced or revised their auto-renewal laws, and the Federal Trade Commission has affirmed its commitment to enforce against
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December 21, 2021 - Digital Content, E-Commerce, Privacy, Social Media Policy, Compliance
Facebook rebrands as “Meta;” disables facial recognition capabilities
By: Aaron P. Rubin, Julie O'Neill and Anthony M. Ramirez
In late October, Facebook announced that it would change its name to Meta , signaling a shift of the social media giant’s focus toward the metaverse , a virtual space where social media, gaming, augmented reality, virtual reality, and cryptocurrencies converge and allow people
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April 12, 2021 - Privacy
Much-Anticipated Supreme Court Ruling Limits the Telephone Consumer Protection Act’s Definition of an Autodialer
By: Julie O'Neill
The Supreme Court has issued its much-anticipated ruling in Facebook v. Duguid , impacting many pending Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) cases nationwide and providing guidance to the many businesses that engage in calling and texting campaigns. The TCPA generally requires an individual’s prior
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March 29, 2021 - Privacy
Who Do You Know? Contacts Access and Data Privacy Issues in Burgeoning Social Media Apps.
By: Julie O'Neill
We’ve all been there: How many times have we downloaded a new social media app, only to have one of the sign-up steps ask for access to our contacts or address book? While on the surface the request seems innocent enough – the whole
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August 04, 2020 - Privacy, Defamation, Section 230 Safe Harbor
FTC questions protections afforded tech platforms; LinkedIn was platform of choice for sellers of COVID-19 PPE; Appeals court passes on “retweet” propriety question
By: Julie O'Neill
Expressing concern about the spread of disinformation related to COVID-19, Federal Trade Commissioner Rohit Chopra said Congress may need “to reassess the special privileges afforded to tech platforms, especially given their vast power to curate and present content in ways that may manipulate users.”
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June 16, 2020 - European Union, GDPR, Privacy
Tell A Friend – But Only With Your Friend’s Consent
By: Alex van der Wolk and Marijn Storm
Alex van der Wolk, Marijn Storm, and Ronan Tigner authored an article for the IAPP covering the Belgian Data Protection Authority’s challenge to the “tell-a-friend” function on social media websites that enables users to share content with their personal contacts. The DPA’s decision to
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March 26, 2020 - DMCA, Privacy, User-Generated Content, Copyright, Section 230 Safe Harbor
Social Links: Biden’s stance on CDA §230; liability for user-generated content; Twitter’s process for reviewing Trump’s tweets
By: Anthony M. Ramirez
A federal district court in Illinois allowed claims for vicarious and direct copyright infringement to proceed against an employee of the Chicago Cubs Baseball Club for retweeting a third-party tweet containing the plaintiff’s copyrighted material. Read the opinion. Thinking of backing Biden in November? Would
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Topic Archives: Privacy

Social Links: Section 230 Under Scrutiny (Again) From Lawmakers

By: Aaron P. Rubin, Julie O'Neill and Anthony M. Ramirez

Fourth Circuit Addresses Whether the CDA Bars Fair Credit Reporting Act Claims Against Online Background Report Site

By: J. Alexander Lawrence, Aaron P. Rubin and Dillon Kraus

Social Links: Behavioral targeting under scrutiny from lawmakers

By: Aaron P. Rubin, Julie O'Neill and Anthony M. Ramirez

Forgot to Cancel? Pay Attention to Recent Auto-Renewal Law Changes

By: Julie O'Neill

Facebook rebrands as “Meta;” disables facial recognition capabilities

By: Aaron P. Rubin, Julie O'Neill and Anthony M. Ramirez

Much-Anticipated Supreme Court Ruling Limits the Telephone Consumer Protection Act’s Definition of an Autodialer

By: Julie O'Neill

Who Do You Know? Contacts Access and Data Privacy Issues in Burgeoning Social Media Apps.

By: Julie O'Neill

FTC questions protections afforded tech platforms; LinkedIn was platform of choice for sellers of COVID-19 PPE; Appeals court passes on “retweet” propriety question

By: Julie O'Neill

Tell A Friend – But Only With Your Friend’s Consent

By: Alex van der Wolk and Marijn Storm

Social Links: Biden’s stance on CDA §230; liability for user-generated content; Twitter’s process for reviewing Trump’s tweets

By: Anthony M. Ramirez