Cybersecurity & Privacy

  • June 17, 2024

    US Surgeon General To Seek Warning Label On Social Media

    U.S. Surgeon General Vivek H. Murthy has called on lawmakers to require social media companies to put warnings on their sites that say young people who use them have more mental health issues, according to an opinion article published on Monday.

  • June 17, 2024

    Hacker Facing Rare, Deadly Cancer Avoids Prison Time

    Despite "vehemently" rejecting defense counsel's arguments seeking a more lenient sentence for a cybersecurity contractor facing up to five years in prison for hacking into a hospital's computer systems, a Georgia federal judge nevertheless handed down a two-year house arrest sentence on Monday, citing the defendant's extremely rare and aggressive form of cancer.

  • June 17, 2024

    9th Circ. Says Facebook 'Face Signatures' Not Subject To BIPA

    The Ninth Circuit sided with Meta Platforms on Monday by declining to revive an Illinois resident's proposed class action accusing Facebook of breaking the state's Biometric Information Privacy Act, ruling that the "face signature" at issue isn't protected by the law because it cannot be used to identify someone.

  • June 17, 2024

    Google Says Texas Took Opposing Positions On Key Law

    Google told a Texas federal court the state attorney general's office made arguments in the case accusing the tech giant of monopolizing display advertising technology that directly contradict arguments the state is making in a case challenging the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act.

  • June 17, 2024

    Consulting Firms To Pay $11.3M Over Rent Help Site Breach

    A consulting firm and its subcontractor have agreed to pay $11.3 million to resolve a False Claims Act suit alleging that they allowed the personal data of low-income New Yorkers to be compromised while operating a pandemic-era rental assistance program website.

  • June 14, 2024

    Meta Halts AI Tech Debut In EU After Regulatory Backlash

    Meta Platforms Inc. said Friday that it was putting on hold plans to expand its artificial intelligence offerings to the European market after the Irish privacy regulator raised concerns about the company's efforts to use public content posted on Facebook and Instagram to fuel these models.

  • June 14, 2024

    FCC Settles Probe Into Data Breach At Liberty Latin America

    Liberty Latin America has been slapped with a $100,000 fine for failing to tell the Federal Communications Commission about a data breach that exposed data before the telecom took control of the company.

  • June 14, 2024

    France Offers $750M For Atos' Cyber, Data Assets

    Information technology firm Atos SE said Friday that it has received a nonbinding offer from the French government to buy certain big data and cybersecurity operations at an enterprise value of €700 million ($750 million).

  • June 14, 2024

    X Dodges Porn Filter BIPA Suit For Now

    An Illinois federal judge has thrown out a proposed class action accusing X Corp. of violating the state's biometric privacy law through its use of software to police pornographic images, saying the lead plaintiff failed to allege that the tool can be used to identify specific individuals. 

  • June 14, 2024

    Feds Lob New Charges Over $430M Dark Web Market

    Two owners of an online marketplace known as Empire Market were hit Thursday with additional charges alleging that over a period of years they allowed users worldwide to buy and sell $430 million worth of illegal goods and services.

  • June 14, 2024

    Political Speech Groups Challenge NJ Judicial Privacy Case

    Two voting-integrity groups moved Friday to dismiss federal claims brought against them under New Jersey's Daniel's Law on the grounds that their business of publishing voter registration information is political speech protected by the First Amendment and federal voting rights laws.

  • June 13, 2024

    CFPB's Chopra Sees 'Pressing Need' For Data Protections

    Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Director Rohit Chopra zeroed in on data usage and privacy during a Thursday hearing with House lawmakers, calling for sharper limits on what financial firms can do with customer data while also seeking to assuage concerns about his agency's plans for data sharing and data broker rules.

  • June 13, 2024

    Vt. Gov. Blocks 'Outlier' Data Privacy Bill With Lawsuit Trigger

    Vermont's governor on Thursday vetoed a legislative proposal that would have given consumers not only new data privacy rights but also the rare opportunity to sue large businesses for certain violations, expressing concerns with the significant "risks" created by the "outlier" measure and urging the Legislature to instead embrace the model adopted by Connecticut and more than a dozen other states.

  • June 13, 2024

    Zoom's $150M Investor Deal Nears OK, But $50K Award Iffy

    A California federal judge indicated Thursday that he'll preliminarily approve Zoom's $150 million deal to end claims it misled investors by stating that it offered end-to-end encryption on its videoconferencing software, but told the plaintiffs' lawyers, "You're going to have to persuade me" to award the lead plaintiff $50,000.

  • June 13, 2024

    KeyBank Borrowers' $6M Data Breach Deal Gets Initial OK

    A Georgia federal judge on Thursday granted preliminary approval to a $6 million settlement deal resolving a class suit over data breaches at KeyBank and other regional lenders and a technology contractor despite objections from a subclass of borrowers — who had previously settled their claims — saying the deal was inequitable.

  • June 13, 2024

    Clearview AI Makes 'Unique' BIPA Deal Tied To Future Value

    Plaintiffs in multidistrict litigation targeting Clearview AI's allegedly unlawful practice of "scraping" internet photos to collect biometric facial data told an Illinois federal judge on Wednesday they have struck a "unique" deal giving the class a stake in the company's future growth.

  • June 13, 2024

    Judge Asks If Amazon Is Doomed To Stay In Wiretapping Suit

    A Washington federal judge questioned Thursday if Amazon Web Services Inc.'s terms of use with Capital One for call center technology "doom" the cloud-computing giant's attempt to avoid a proposed class action accusing it of violating California's wiretapping law.

  • June 13, 2024

    Apple Wants Discovery Hearing Closed In IPhone Class Action

    Apple is asking a California federal judge to close the courtroom during an upcoming discovery hearing in the ongoing antitrust class action it's facing from consumers, arguing that the proceeding is likely to reveal consumer data and billing information that should be kept out of public view.

  • June 13, 2024

    Michigan Supreme Court Curbs Voter Interference Law

    The Michigan Supreme Court narrowed the reach of a law criminalizing voter intimidation Thursday due to fears it could be used to chill political speech, sending prosecutions for robocalls that aimed to suppress Black voter turnout back to an appellate panel for more review.

  • June 13, 2024

    Legal Aid Org Wants DHS Records On Asylum Data Leak

    A legal services provider sued the U.S. Department of Homeland Security in California federal court, looking to force the agency to hand over records on its accidental disclosure of the personally identifiable information of more than 6,200 asylum seekers.

  • June 13, 2024

    GOP Lawmakers Want China Patent Data Amid Tech Pact Talks

    Republican lawmakers are urging the U.S. Commerce Department to provide a full accounting of whether the U.S. government has funded research that resulted in Chinese patents, arguing they need the data to assess potential national security risks as the Biden administration negotiates a new science and technology agreement with China.

  • June 13, 2024

    Meta Facing Complaint Over Plans To Train AI With User Data

    A Norwegian consumer protection group has hit Meta with a legal challenge over its plans to deploy its users' data — including images and posts — to train artificial intelligence models.

  • June 13, 2024

    Dechert Backs Special Master In Airline Mogul's Hacking Suit

    Dechert LLP has said a special master got it right when she largely denied an airline tycoon's numerous bids to access allegedly privileged information in his suit seeking to prove an international hacking conspiracy, asking a North Carolina federal judge to affirm the decision.

  • June 13, 2024

    FTC Urged To Get Moving On Stalled Privacy Rulemaking

    Nearly three dozen consumer advocacy groups are calling on the Federal Trade Commission to stop dragging its feet on efforts announced almost two years ago to craft sweeping data privacy and security rules, arguing that time is running out for the agency to clamp down on companies' "historic" drive to amass personal information and track consumers online. 

  • June 12, 2024

    ZoomInfo's $30M Privacy Deal Gets Initial Green Light

    An Illinois federal judge on Wednesday granted preliminary approval to a proposed settlement in which ZoomInfo will shell out roughly $30 million to resolve claims it used people's names and identities, without their consent, to advertise paid access to its full database.

Expert Analysis

  • A Close Look At The FCC's Revised SIM Card Fraud Rules

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    Carolyn Mahoney and John Seiver at Davis Wright break down recently proposed revisions to the Federal Communications Commission's customer proprietary network information and local number portability rules for wireless providers, discuss the revisions' implications on artificial intelligence regulation, and provide tips to prevent SIM swap and port-out fraud.

  • What Retailers Should Note In Calif. Web Tracking Suits

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    As retailers face a deluge of class actions alleging the use of conventional web analytic tools violate wiretapping and eavesdropping provisions of the California Invasion of Privacy Act, uncovering the path toward a narrow interpretation of the law will largely depend on how these cases proceed, say Matthew Pearson and Kareem Salem at BakerHostetler.

  • Copyright Lessons Following Ruling In Artist AI Suit

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    The recent California district court ruling in Andersen v. Stability AI — that artists needed to specify how the training of artificial intelligence tools violated their copyrights — shows that lawyers on either side of generative AI matters must carefully navigate copyright issues including temporary copying and data sourcing, says Carlos Araya at Magnolia Abogados.

  • The Legal Industry Needs A Cybersecurity Paradigm Shift

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    As law firms face ever-increasing risks of cyberattacks and ransomware incidents, the legal industry must implement robust cybersecurity measures and privacy-centric practices to preserve attorney-client privilege, safeguard client trust and uphold the profession’s integrity, says Ryan Paterson at Unplugged.

  • 5 Reasons Associates Shouldn't Take A Job Just For Money

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    As a number of BigLaw firms increase salary scales for early-career attorneys, law students and lateral associates considering new job offers should weigh several key factors that may matter more than financial compensation, say Albert Tawil at Lateral Hub and Ruvin Levavi at Power Forward.

  • SEC Registrants Likely Won't Get Cyber Disclosure Delays

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    The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's sweeping cybersecurity disclosure final rules, its SolarWinds enforcement action and recent U.S. Department of Justice guidance show the pressure is on registrants to disclose incidents timely and accurately, but the circumstances in which an extension will be granted are extremely rare, say attorneys at Pillsbury.

  • Following Banking Regulators' Breadcrumbs To 2024 Priorities

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    Through blog posts, speeches, and formal guidance and regulations, prudential and other federal and state financial regulators laid out a road map last year pointing to compliance priorities that should be reflected in financial institutions' planning this year, say Laurel Loomis Rimon and Gina Shabana at Jenner & Block.

  • Directors And Officers Face Unique AI-Related Risks

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    As privacy, intellectual property and discrimination lawsuits focusing on artificial intelligence increase, corporate directors and officers must stay aware of associated risks, including those related to compliance, litigation and cybersecurity, says Jonathan Meer at Wilson Elser.

  • Series

    Playing Competitive Tennis Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    My experience playing competitive tennis has highlighted why prioritizing exercise and stress relief, maintaining perspective under pressure, and supporting colleagues in pursuit of a common goal are all key aspects of championing a successful legal career, says Madhumita Datta at Lowenstein Sandler.

  • New Strain Of Web Tracking Suits Pose Risks For Retailers

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    Amid an ongoing surge of California state and federal lawsuits that are using novel theories to allege companies used certain recording technologies to illegally track website users, retailers should take steps to develop a potential argument that customers consented to any alleged uses of these devices, say attorneys at Benesch.

  • Series

    The Pop Culture Docket: Judge Djerassi On Super Bowl 52

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    Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas Judge Ramy Djerassi discusses how Super Bowl 52, in which the Philadelphia Eagles prevailed over the New England Patriots, provides an apt metaphor for alternative dispute resolution processes in commercial business cases.

  • Unraveling The Bundled Benefits Of Retail Memberships

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    The recent prevalence of paid retail memberships and the associated findings of a consumer survey suggest that assessing consumer preferences and welfare may be important when considering resolution mechanisms in antitrust contexts, say Rosa M. Abrantes-Metz at Berkeley Research Group, Mame Maloney at The Brattle Group and Jeff Brazell at the University of Utah.

  • NC TikTok Order Holds Lessons On Handling State AG Probes

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    Earlier this month, a North Carolina appeals court compelled TikTok to give the state attorney general information relating to 98,000 recorded Zoom meetings, reminding companies that successful civil litigation strategies may have the opposite effect in the state or regulatory investigation context, say attorneys at Troutman Pepper.

  • Takeaways From SEC's Aggressive Cybersecurity Moves

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    The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's intensifying policy on cybersecurity and securities violations in the wake of a data breach — like its enforcement action against SolarWinds and its security officer — has emboldened shareholders to file related suits, creating a heightened threat to public companies, say attorneys at Baker McKenzie.

  • Considerations For Lawyer Witnesses After FTX Trial

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    Sam Bankman-Fried's recent trial testimony about his lawyers' involvement in FTX's business highlights the need for attorney-witnesses to understand privilege issues in order to avoid costly discovery disputes and, potentially, uncover critical evidence an adversary might seek to conceal, says Lawrence Bluestone at Genova Burns.

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