Senate Commerce Revisits Privacy In Light of Legislative Proposals

On December 4, the Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee held a hearing titled ”Examining Legislative Proposals to Protect Consumer Data Privacy” a week after two competing proposals were released: the “United States Consumer Data Privacy Act of 2019“ (CDPA) and the “Consumer Online Privacy Rights Act“ (COPRA) (S.2968). Chair Roger Wicker (R-MS) stated “[f]or … Continue reading Senate Commerce Revisits Privacy In Light of Legislative Proposals →

Privacy Bill A Week: United States Consumer Data Privacy Act of 2019

The majority staff of the Senate Commerce Committee circulated the “United States Consumer Data Privacy Act of 2019” (CDPA), a draft data privacy bill days after Ranking Member Maria Cantwell (D-WA) and her cosponsors released the “Consumer Online Privacy Rights Act“ (COPRA) (S.2968) (See here for more analysis). Of course, these competing proposals came before … Continue reading Privacy Bill A Week: United States Consumer Data Privacy Act of 2019 →

Privacy Bill A Week: Consumer Online Privacy Rights Act

Yesterday, we posted the political backdrop for the introduction of the “Consumer Online Privacy Rights Act“ (COPRA). Today, let's turn to the substance of the bill. Under COPRA, entities covered by the new requirements is a broad class simply defined as those already subject to the FTC Act and “process[] or transfer[] covered data.” The … Continue reading Privacy Bill A Week: Consumer Online Privacy Rights Act →

Senate Commerce Democrats Unveil Privacy Bill

The last bill we examined on privacy and data security was Representatives Anna Eshoo (D-CA) and Zoe Lofgren’s (D-CA) the “Online Privacy Act of 2019” (H.R. 4978), a long, comprehensive bill that has little chance of being enacted as it is. Another such bill has been introduced by Senate Democratic stakeholders that takes a comprehensive … Continue reading Senate Commerce Democrats Unveil Privacy Bill →

Senate Democrats Release Privacy Principles

The ranking members of four Senate Committees have released their principles for any privacy legislation, many of which are likely to be rejected by Republicans and many industry stakeholders (e.g. no preemptions of the “California Consumer Privacy Act” (AB 375) and a private right of action for consumers). Nonetheless, Senators Maria Cantwell (D-WA), Dianne Feinstein … Continue reading Senate Democrats Release Privacy Principles →

ACCC Charges Google With Violations Of Consumer Laws Over Android Location Settings

The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) announced a legal action against Google “alleging they engaged in misleading conduct and made false or misleading representations to consumers about the personal location data Google collects, keeps and uses” according to the agency’s press release. In its initial filing, the ACCC is claiming that Google mislead and … Continue reading ACCC Charges Google With Violations Of Consumer Laws Over Android Location Settings →

Facebook and WhatsApp Sue Israeli Security Firm, NSO Group

WhatsApp and Facebook filed suit against the Israeli security firm, NSO Group, alleging that in April 2019, it sent “malware to approximately 1,400 mobile phones and devices…designed to infect the Target Devices for the purpose of conducting surveillance of specific WhatsApp users.” This step was taken, Facebook and WhatsApp claim, in order to circumvent WhatApp’s … Continue reading Facebook and WhatsApp Sue Israeli Security Firm, NSO Group →