“To Harmonize or Not To Harmonize: That Is the Question.” With the the GDPR fast approaching on May 25, 2018, European Member States are getting ready with the implementation of national legislation. Although the GDPR is a regulation, and directly applicable in all Member States, it has left room for country-specific legislation in several different regards (such as the processing of employee data or individual rights restrictions). Most Member States still only have draft legislation at this point, but the expectation (or at least intention) is that each country will have adopted legislation [...] Read more
David Keating, partner and co-leader of the firm’s Privacy & Data Security practice, Jan Dhont, Brussels partner and head of the firm’s European Privacy and Data Protection practice, and Karen Sanzaro, counsel in the Technology & Privacy Group, will be speakers at the 2017 Privacy + Security Forum in Washington, DC, taking place on October 4-6, 2017.
David Keating will be speaking during the session on “Emerging Consumer Tracking and Analytics Technologies.” This session will explore recent regulatory and enforcement developments in this area and discuss practical approaches [...] Read more
The Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”) announced that InMobi, a Singapore-based mobile advertising company whose products are used by many Android and iOS app makers to deliver advertisements to consumers, will pay $950,000 in civil penalties and implement a comprehensive privacy program to settle FTC charges for deceptively tracking the locations of hundreds of millions of consumers, including children, without their knowledge or consent to serve them geo-targeted advertising.
The FTC alleges that InMobi represented that its advertising software would only collect consumer’s geo-location [...] Read more
Peter Swire, senior counsel in Alston & Bird’s Privacy & Data Security Group and Georgia Institute of Technology Scheller College of Business professor was quoted in International Business Times regarding privacy compliance concerns for the soon-to-be rating app “Peeple.” The app, nicknamed “Yelp for Humans” by the media, will allegedly allow users to review other people without having to obtain permission to create a profile on their behalf. In addition, the user will be asked to enter a cell phone number for the person for whom they are creating a profile.
There are multiple [...] Read more
On January 12, 2015, President Barack Obama unveiled a series of comprehensive proposals aimed at protecting Americans’ personal and financial information, combating online fraud, and safeguarding digital privacy. As part of his speech at the Federal Trade Commission, President Obama highlighted certain initiatives related to student privacy that he will discuss in greater detail at the State of the Union address next week.
The President proposed a new federal law: the Student Digital Privacy Act. According to the White House, the Student Digital Privacy Act is “designed to provide teachers [...] Read more
On August 25, 2014, the Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”) issued a Federal Register notice to be published, announcing the FTC’s request for public comment on a proposed verifiable parental consent method. The method has been submitted for approval by AgeCheq, Inc. under the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act and the rules promulgated thereunder (the “Rule”).
The Rule requires operators of commercial websites and online services, including mobile apps, to post privacy policies, provide notice thereof, and obtain verifiable parental consent [...] Read more
The Federal Trade Commission today announced its approval of the Internet Keep Safe Coalition (“iKeepSafe”) Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (“COPPA”) safe harbor oversight program. iKeepSafe’s program is the seventh COPPA safe harbor program approved by the FTC.
In its letter to iKeepSafe approving the program, the FTC stated that iKeepSafe’s program met the FTC guidelines by including “(1) a requirement that participants in the safe harbor program implement substantially similar requirements that provide the same or greater protections [...] Read more
On July 16, 2014, the Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”) issued revised guidance regarding compliance with the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (“COPPA”). COPPA and the rules promulgated thereunder regulate the collection, use, and disclosure of personal information from children under age 13 by operators of commercial websites and online services, including mobile apps. The recent changes to the FTC’s Complying with COPPA: Frequently Asked Questions document clarify parental consent requirements with respect to such websites and services. [...] Read more
David Keating was quoted in a Law360 article titled “FTC Sets High Bar for COPPA Parental Consent Verification” and discussed the COPPA parental consent verification and how the Federal Trade Commission recently rejected the first attempt under the amended COPPA Rule at proposing a parental consent safe harbor method.
“Given that data that is collected from children is one of the most sensitive categories of information, the commission is not going to take the approval of a new mechanism lightly and certainly won’t do it where there is emerging technology that the commission [...] Read more
On September 26, 2013, Paul Martino, co-chair of Alston and Bird’s Privacy and Security practice, was quoted in the Law360 article, “California’s Delete-Button Law Invigorates Teen Privacy Push.” In the article, Martino discussed the likely nationwide impact of a newly enacted California law, entitled “Privacy Rights for California Minors in the Digital Age,” which passed the California legislature as S.B. 568 on August 30 and was signed by Governor Brown on September 23. “What we’re seeing from California is a move to nudge the federal law and perhaps influence other states to [...] Read more
