As has been widely reported, in late January the French privacy supervisor CNIL fined Google €50 million for privacy violations relating to targeted marketing using Android user data. One of the core violations the CNIL found was that Google’s Android user interface did not obtain effective, GDPR-compliant consent to targeted marketing from users. The amount of the Google fine startled many companies, but with time the shock faded. Google was seen as a special case, and a number of companies began to presume that, while scrutiny of targeted online marketing may pick up, “we’re not […] Read more
On February 16, 2018, the Brussels Court of First Instance rendered a judgment in proceedings brought by the Belgian Privacy Commission’s against Facebook. The case forms one part of two-tiered litigation brought by the Commission in regards to alleged monitoring practices vis-à-vis Belgian internet users. In parallel to the proceedings that resulted in the judgment cited above, the Belgian Privacy Commission had also initiated a procedure referred to as “summary proceedings” against Facebook – and Facebook defeated the Privacy Commission’s claim before the Brussels Court of Appeal in [...] Read more
“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
About this time last January, the European Parliament released its proposal for a new ePrivacy Regulation. The intent of the ePrivacy Regulation is to replace the current ePrivacy regime – which consists of an ePrivacy Directive and a patchwork of local implementing legislation – with a uniform set of directly-applicable EU-wide rules. Since the Parliament released its ePrivacy Regulation draft, both the European Council and the European Parliament have reviewed it and released their own revised drafts.
The ePrivacy Regulation contains a number of important rules for companies. Traditionally, [...] 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
On April 29, Alston & Bird’s Los Angeles office hosted a Privacy Program on Mobile Behavioral Tracking. Dominique Shelton of Alston & Bird moderated a panel that consisted of Alston & Bird attorneys Peter Swire and David Keating and industry professionals from the Office of the Attorney General, California Department of Justice, Ghostery Inc. and Manatt, Phelps & Phillips, LLP. The panelists discussed new tools, opportunities & risks of mobile behavioral tracking, and text messaging campaign. The discussion included the benefits, and regulatory and litigation risks of using [...] Read more
Alston & Bird is pleased to announce that Peter Swire has joined the firm's Privacy and Security practice as Senior Counsel. Peter was President Clinton’s Chief Counselor for Privacy in the U.S. Office of Management and Budget. He also served as one of five members of President Obama’s Review Group on Intelligence and Communications Technology, formed in the wake of Edward Snowden’s revelations regarding surveillance activities by the U.S. National Security Agency.
Peter has long been a thought and action leader in the privacy and security space. During his time in the Clinton administration, [...] Read more
In follow up to our previous blog, California AG Kamala Harris Issues Privacy Policy Guidance: Making Your Privacy Practices Public Contains Draft Tips for Website and Online Service Privacy Policies, regarding the release of the AG’s report, please see our recently released client advisory providing a detailed analysis of the new privacy guidance: California Attorney General Kamala Harris Releases Long-Anticipated Guidance Regarding Privacy Policy Notices . As conceived, the Report is designed to apply to all businesses, regardless of the country or state in which they operate, based on the [...] Read more
David Keating, partner in the firm’s Technology and Privacy Group and co-leader of the firm’s Privacy & Data Security practice, was quoted in an article by The Associated Press titled “Europe’s Move to Rein in Google Would Stall in U.S.”
The article discusses a recent European Court of Justice ruling that some read to establish a “right to be forgotten” on the Internet. “There will be serious technological challenges,” Keating said. “It seems aspirational, not a reality, to comply with such a standard,” he [...] Read more
Today, California Attorney General Kamala Harris released her long-anticipated guidance on privacy policies for companies collecting information from California residents in a report entitled Making Your Privacy Practices Public (the “Report”). While the Report exceeds existing law in many respects, affected companies should take heed to review the report and be familiar with its contents as it sets forth a blue print for how the CA AG’s office views “best practices” in connection with privacy policy drafting in the areas of “Big Data,” behavioral tracking, data security, and the [...] Read more
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