On Friday, May 9 the Department of Justice (DOJ) released a white paper stating that under its interpretation of the Stored Communications Act (SCA), 18 U.S.C. § 2701 et seq., communications companies are permitted to disclose “non-content information to the government” as long as that information is in its “aggregate form.” The lynchpin of the DOJ’s […]
Regulatory Enforcement
Google Must Scrub its Search Engine of Individual’s Personal Data, Court Rules
The European Court of Justice (“ECJ”) ruled today that Google may be compelled to remove search listings of web pages containing information about individuals. Mario Costeja Gonzalez, a Spanish national, complained in 2010 to Spain’s data protection authority (“Spanish DPA”) about the inclusion of a newspaper article in Google search results that appeared when searching his […]
Apple Agrees to Settle FTC Complaint Regarding In-App Purchases
January 15, 2014 – The Federal Trade Commission today announced that Apple has entered a settlement agreement containing a consent order to settle the FTC’s complaint alleging that the company billed consumers for charges incurred by children in kids’ mobile apps without their parents’ consent. Under the agreement, Apple will refund at least $32.5 million to […]
Privacy Partners Paul Martino and Dominique Shelton Author Law360 Article on Proposed California Guidance for Do-Not-Track Disclosures
Today, Paul Martino and Dominique Shelton, partners in Alston and Bird’s Privacy and Security practice and respective members of the firm’s Legislative & Public Policy and Litigation and Trial Practice groups, co-authored the Law360 article, “Inside Calif.’s Proposed Guidance For Do-Not-Track Law.” In the article, Martino and Shelton address the potential impact of the meeting held for interested […]
FTC Chairwoman Reiterates Support for National Data Breach Law with FTC Enforcement Powers
At the National Consumers League Conference on identity theft, held on December 12, 2013 in Washington, D.C., Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”) Chairwoman Edith Ramirez pushed for a federal data breach law featuring the FTC as the “enforcer.” Chairwoman Ramirez engaged in a keynote discussion with former FTC Chairwoman Deborah Platt Majoras and made her position […]