On March 3, 2015, the Third Circuit heard oral argument in FTC v. Wyndham Worldwide Corp., et al. (“Wyndham”) on the issue of whether the FTC has the authority to regulate private companies’ data security under Section 5 of the FTC Act. This appeal arises out of the District Court’s holding that the unfairness prong […]
Privacy & Cybersecurity Litigation
President Obama Proposes New Privacy Protections for Student Data
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 […]
TD Bank NA Settles Data Breach Lawsuit with Mass. AG
TD Bank North America (“TD Bank”) and the Massachusetts Attorney General announced an agreement on December 8 to end a data breach lawsuit brought against TD Bank by the Massachusetts Attorney General. The lawsuit alleged that TD Bank failed to properly protect and encrypt personal customer information contained on two server backup tapes that it […]
FTC approves iKeepSafe COPPA Safe Harbor Oversight Program
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 […]
District Judge Upholds Decision Requiring Microsoft to Provide Irish Data to U.S. Investigators
On July 31, Federal District Judge Loretta A. Preska (Southern District of New York) upheld the decision of a magistrate judge requiring Microsoft to turn over the contents of customer email stored in Ireland to U.S. investigators. The magistrate’s April decision was previously discussed on this blog. Federal investigators had obtained a warrant for the email […]