Cybersecurity & Privacy

May 15, 2024
Blackbaud Dodges Data Breach Victims' Class Cert. Bid

A South Carolina federal judge has refused to certify several proposed classes consisting of roughly 1.5 billion patients, donors and other individuals whose personal information was allegedly swept up in a 2020 ransomware attack on software provider Blackbaud Inc., finding that the plaintiffs had failed to show that class members could be easily identified.
May 15, 2024
SolarWinds Says SEC's Cyber Breach Suit Goes Too Far

SolarWinds Corp. on Wednesday asked a Manhattan federal judge to throw out the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's suit accusing the enterprise software company of deceiving investors about its lax cybersecurity, which left it open to a Russian hacking campaign.
May 15, 2024
State Farm Can't Dodge TCPA Suit Over Robocalls

State Farm must face a proposed class action alleging it violated the Telephone Consumer Protection Act by using a third-party company to make automated telemarketing calls without prior consent, an Illinois federal judge has ruled, saying the suit states a plausible claim of the insurer's vicarious liability for the robocalls.
May 15, 2024
Flexibility In Info Security Policy May Add Compliance Burden

New federal guidance for contractors handling sensitive, but unclassified information could introduce confusion and compliance burdens if agencies implement security controls without consulting contractors.
May 15, 2024
UnitedHealth Concealed DOJ Merger Investigation, Suit Says

UnitedHealth Group has been hit with a proposed shareholder class action alleging that it failed to disclose that the U.S. Department of Justice had reopened an antitrust investigation into the health insurance giant following its acquisition of a healthcare data company, and that top executives had sold more than $120 million of shares knowing about the investigation before a news report revealed it to the public.
May 15, 2024
En Banc 9th Circ. Will Mull Jurisdiction In Shopify Privacy Suit

The Ninth Circuit agreed to review en banc a panel's decision dismissing a suit alleging payment processing company Shopify collects shoppers' sensitive information without permission, after the plaintiff argued the full court should hear the case to resolve how to assess personal jurisdiction in online misconduct cases.
May 15, 2024
Anti-Trans Groups Fail To Block Wash. Youth Shelter Law

A federal judge on Wednesday threw out a lawsuit filed by two anti-transgender groups challenging a Washington state law intended to ensure shelter for teens seeking gender-affirming care or reproductive health services, ruling that speculating on possible injury was not enough to clear a standing hurdle.
May 15, 2024
FTC Chair Khan Defends Request For 25% Budget Increase

Federal Trade Commission Chair Lina M. Khan defended a 25% budget increase request during a House appropriations hearing Wednesday, calling it "healthy" that aggressive Biden administration merger enforcement has made antitrust considerations top of mind for companies mulling transactions.
May 15, 2024
House Panel Advances Tax-Exempt Org Oversight Bills

The House Ways and Means Committee approved a package of bills Wednesday that would increase scrutiny of foreign donations to tax-exempt organizations, including legislation that would require those organizations to publicly report the donations.
May 15, 2024
FCC Could Require ISP Reports On Internet Routing Security

The Federal Communications Commission will vote on a plan next month to require the largest broadband providers to file confidential reports on security of the internet's main routing technology, the Border Gateway Protocol.
May 15, 2024
Ex-FTX Exec Seeks Leniency, Saying He Was Kept In The Dark

A former top FTX official has asked a Manhattan federal judge for a lenient 18-month sentence, saying he was not part of company co-founder Sam Bankman-Fried's inner circle and was as shocked as everyone else to learn that the crypto exchange was operating a fraud that siphoned billions in customer funds.
May 15, 2024
Senators Release 'Road Map' For Crafting Federal AI Policy

A bipartisan group of senators on Wednesday laid out a "road map" for artificial intelligence policy that calls for increased AI innovation funding, testing of potential harms posed by AI and consideration of the technology's workforce implications.
May 15, 2024
Kirkland Guiding Billionaire McCourt On Bid To Buy TikTok

Billionaire Frank McCourt, advised by Kirkland & Ellis, says he's building a consortium to purchase TikTok and redesign the platform to eliminate the collection of users' information, putting "people in control of their [own] digital identities and data."
May 15, 2024
Mortgage Co.'s $2.4M Data Breach Settlement Gets Initial OK

A Connecticut federal judge gave her initial sign-off to a $2.4 million settlement between mortgage firm Planet Home Lending LLC and a consolidated class of customers whose personal data, including their Social Security numbers, was exposed in a cyberattack.
May 14, 2024
Gunster Data Breach Affected 9K Clients' Data, Suit Says

A former client of Gunster Yoakley & Stewart PA has filed a proposed class action in Florida federal court, alleging the law firm's weak cybersecurity systems allowed outsiders to access clients' personal and sensitive health information and that the firm waited over a year to inform those affected.
May 14, 2024
Davis Wright-Led TikTok Creators Challenge Potential Ban

Following TikTok Inc.'s lead, a group of creators on Tuesday lodged their own challenge to a new federal law that would exclude the popular app from the U.S. market unless it cuts ties with its Chinese parent company, telling the D.C. Circuit that the measure undermines the First Amendment.
May 14, 2024
Telecoms Settle FCC Probe Into Undersea Cables For $2M

Two telecoms will pay $1 million each to resolve a Federal Communications Commission probe into an undersea cable system that connected the U.S. with Colombia and Costa Rica without FCC approval.
May 14, 2024
Chamber Cautions FCC Against Making Anti-Arbitration Rules

Business leaders told the Federal Communications Commission that it cannot bar wireless providers from requiring arbitration clauses with customers to resolve disputes arising from cellphone SIM card and port-out fraud.
May 14, 2024
NIST Finalizes Revised Security Guidelines For Sensitive Info

The National Institute of Standards and Technology on Tuesday released a final version of revised guidelines for contractors and other entities who handle sensitive unclassified federal information, intended to clarify and streamline those requirements.
May 14, 2024
Casino App User Can't Hide Arbitration Details, Chancery Says

A mobile app slot-machine player who lost an arbitration dispute with the game's operator may not keep the details of the arbitration award confidential in Delaware court filings, a Chancery Court vice chancellor said Tuesday, denying a request for ongoing confidential treatment.
May 13, 2024
11th Circ. Says Class Attys Self-Dealt In $35M TCPA Settlement

The Eleventh Circuit on Monday dismissed a proposed $35 million settlement of a class action alleging GoDaddy.com violated the Telephone Consumer Protection Act by sending unwanted marketing texts, saying the deal may have come by through nefarious means.
May 13, 2024
Vt. On Brink Of Enacting Privacy Bill With Lawsuit Mechanism

The Vermont legislature has sent to the governor's desk a comprehensive data privacy bill that would not only require companies to scale back their data collection efforts and ramp up safeguards for children, but also give consumers the rare opportunity to sue large businesses that violate the law in certain circumstances.
May 13, 2024
Student Loan Servicer Faces Suit Over Tax Form Data Breach

An education-focused subsidiary of payment processor Global Payments Inc. faces a proposed class action accusing it of negligence after it disclosed that part of its website allowed bad actors unfettered access to certain student tax documents for months at a time.
May 13, 2024
SEC, FinCEN Propose Money Manager Customer ID Rule

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and the Treasury Department's Financial Crimes Enforcement Network on Monday proposed a rule that would require money managers such as hedge funds and private equity firms to document and maintain customer identification programs.
May 13, 2024
FTC Can't Modify $5B Meta Privacy Deal, DC Circ. Told

Meta Platforms Inc. told the D.C. Circuit on Monday that the Federal Trade Commission lacks the ability to unilaterally modify a $5 billion privacy settlement, contending that the courts are the ones responsible for enforcing the agreement.

Expert Analysis

Trends That Tech Lawyers Should Keep An Eye On In 2024

Worldwide technology spending is projected to strengthen in 2024, spurred by artificial intelligence-driven solutions, and five areas of growth may affect lawyers' practice in this sector, says Sonia Baldia at Kilpatrick.
CFPB As Pay App Watchdog May Invite More Fintech Regs

While the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's recent proposal to enhance federal oversight of the biggest consumer payment applications would impose no new regulatory obligations, the rulemaking could provoke heightened scrutiny for all participants in the digital payments market, say attorneys at Steptoe.
Emerging Risks Affecting The Tech Legal Landscape

The tech industry has become a battleground for various legal challenges shaped by geopolitical events, partisan politics, regulatory initiatives, patent disputes and class action trends, but companies can adopt several proactive legal strategies to safeguard their interests, say Natasha Allen and Louis Lehot at Foley & Lardner.
5 Litigation Funding Trends To Note In 2024

Over the next year and beyond, litigation funding will continue to evolve in ways that affect attorneys and the larger litigation landscape, from the growth of a secondary market for funded claims, to rising interest rates restricting the availability of capital, says Jeffery Lula at GLS Capital.
5 Securities Litigation Issues To Watch In 2024

There is yet another exciting year ahead for securities litigation, starting with the U.S. Supreme Court hearing argument next week in a case presenting a key securities class action question that has eluded review for the last eight years, say attorneys at Willkie.
Unpacking NIST's Guidance On Genomic Data Cybersecurity

The National Institute of Standards and Technology's final internal report on cybersecurity of genomic data highlights unique concerns associated with the use of such data and provides strong recommendations for risk management, though one area of the report may cause some confusion, say attorneys at Ropes & Gray.
A Look At Consumer Reporting In 2023, And What's To Come

The legal landscape of consumer reporting is evolving as courts, federal regulators and state legislatures continue to weigh in — and while last year may have seen a slight downtick in the overall volume of Fair Credit Reporting Act litigation, 2024 is set to be a watershed year for this area of the law, say attorneys at Troutman Pepper.
What To Know About FCA Cybersecurity Enforcement

Now is a good time for practitioners, government contractors and potential relators to review recent developments in cybersecurity-related False Claims Act enforcement, and consider best practices for navigating this space in the new year, say Ellen London at London & Stout, and Li Yu and Molly Knobler at DiCello Levitt.
8 Privacy Law Predictions For 2024

As the new year begins, looking back to several of last year's privacy law developments may help companies forecast what to focus on when updating their privacy programs, including children's privacy, so-called dark patterns and the collection of data by connected cars, say attorneys at Sheppard Mullin.
4 Legal Ethics Considerations For The New Year

As attorneys and clients reset for a new year, now is a good time to take a step back and review some core ethical issues that attorneys should keep front of mind in 2024, including approaching generative artificial intelligence with caution and care, and avoiding pitfalls in outside counsel guidelines, say attorneys at HWG.
FTC Rite Aid Order Holds Biometrics And AI Compliance Tips

The Federal Trade Commission's recent enforcement action against Rite Aid over its use of facial biometric technology on customers provides lessons that can be leveraged to reduce and manage the risk of regulatory scrutiny of biometrics and artificial intelligence, says David Oberly at Baker Donelson.
Series

In The CFPB Playbook: Rulemaking Rush Before Election Year

In this quarterly Consumer Financial Protection Bureau activity recap by former bureau personnel, attorneys at McGuireWoods explain the regulator's recent push to finalize new rules about data aggregators, digital payment apps and more before the election-year Congressional Review Act window opens.
Ill. BIPA Ruling May Spark Violation-Of-Law Exclusion Fight

An Illinois appeals court's recent holding in National Fire Insurance v. Visual Pak that a violation-of-law exclusion didn't preclude coverage for an underlying Biometric Information Privacy Act suit contradicts an earlier Seventh Circuit decision that aligns with long-standing insurance law principles — which may lead the state's high court to weigh in, says Tae Andrews at Pasich.
5 Privacy And Cybersecurity Resolutions For 2024

In 2023, companies grappled with an unprecedented array of data privacy and cybersecurity challenges that are likely to continue in 2024, meaning businesses will be well-served to incorporate strategies, such as data governance and website configuration, into their compliance programs, say Steven Stransky at Thompson Hine and Violet Sullivan at Crum & Forster.
What The Law Firm Of The Future Will Look Like

As the legal landscape shifts, it’s become increasingly clear that the BigLaw business model must adapt in four key ways to remain viable, from fostering workplace flexibility to embracing technology, say Kevin Henderson and Eric Pacifici at SMB Law Group.