Written by Privacy & Data Security Team
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
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Written by Privacy & Data Security Team
On October 1, Alston & Bird Partner Dominique Shelton and entrepreneur Maria Fernandez presented a panel on Omnichannel retailing, a marketing method that mixes physical and digital channels to create an innovative and unified customer experience, at the National Retail Federation’s 2014 Shop.org Summit in Seattle, Washington. The Panel, titled “The Threat to Omnichannel Innovation: How Comfortable Is Your Customer Now?” covered emerging regulatory threats to Omnichannel tools, such as detecting facial responses to product displays, and heat mapping technology that tracks consumer behavior
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Written by Privacy & Data Security Team
On December 10, 2013, the Privacy Enforcement and Protection Unit of the California Office of the Attorney General (CA AG) held a meeting in San Francisco for interested stakeholders to discuss best practices in light of the Assembly’s enactment of A.B. 370, California’s new do-not-track disclosure law that goes into effect on January 1, 2014. A.B. 370 amended the California Online Privacy Protection Act (CalOPPA) to require operators of websites, online services and mobile applications to amend their privacy policies as of the new year to either (1) disclose how they respond to do-not-track
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Written by Privacy & Data Security Team
Companies that have amassed databases of consumers’ landline and mobile numbers for telemarketing purposes are left in a quandary as to whether they must obtain additional consent from consumers to comply with the new Telephone Consumer Protection Act (“TCPA”) rule. As of Wednesday October 16, 2013 companies that use prerecorded calls, autodialers or text messages as a means of marketing to their customers must adhere to new consent standards. The new consent standards require such companies to procure a consumer’s “prior express written consent” before placing
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Written by Privacy & Data Security Team
On September 27, 2013, California Governor Brown signed into law A.B. 370, amending the California Online Protection Act (CalOPPA) to require two new privacy policy disclosures for websites and online services regarding behavioral tracking. California Assembly member Al Muratsuchi (D-Torrance), who introduced A.B. 370, released a statement in which he said the amended law “will protect Californians’ right to privacy by providing transparency that will allow consumers to know when their online activity is being tracked. The consumer can then make an informed decision about their
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Written by Privacy & Data Security Team
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
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Written by Privacy & Data Security Team
Today, California Governor Brown signed into law S.B. 568, establishing a new law entitled “Privacy Rights for California Minors in the Digital World,” which aims to protect the online privacy of children and teenagers who are under 18 years of age and reside in the State of California. California Senate President pro Tempore Darrell Steinberg (D-Sacramento), who introduced S.B. 568, released a statement calling the new law “a groundbreaking protection for our kids who often act impetuously with postings of ill-advised pictures or messages before they think through the consequences. They
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Written by Privacy & Data Security Team
California Governor Brown is preparing to sign into law an unprecedented children’s online privacy bill (S.B. 568), which adds a new chapter to the State’s Business and Professions Code (BPC) to protect the online privacy of children and teenagers who are under 18 years of age and reside in the State of California. The bill establishes Chapter 22.1, entitled “Privacy Rights for California Minors in the Digital World,” which will commence with Section 22580 in Division 8 of the BPC.
In response to minors’ increasing access to digital content and products available online, California
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