Cybersecurity & Privacy

  • September 29, 2024

    Hunter Biden's Tax Privacy Case Can Proceed, Judge Says

    Hunter Biden can move forward with his lawsuit against the federal government alleging the unauthorized disclosure of his tax return information by special agents and their attorneys who talked publicly about an investigation that culminated in Biden's copping to criminal tax charges, a D.C. federal judge ruled.

  • September 27, 2024

    Bread's Banks Fork Over $2M To FDIC Over Rewards Issue

    The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. has fined Bread Financial's Comenity bank units a total of $2 million as part of a pair of consent orders made public Friday that resolve unfair practices claims tied to their rewards programs and automatic payments processing.

  • September 27, 2024

    FCC Chief Quotes Taylor Swift In Tough Stance On Deepfakes

    Federal Communications Commission chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel vowed during a speech Friday to take a strong position on enforcing the Telephone Consumer Protection Act against AI-generated robocalls and noted the FCC is considering new AI election-related disclosure regulations, quoting pop singer Taylor Swift who said, "The simplest way to combat misinformation is with the truth."

  • September 27, 2024

    Kappos' Bayh-Dole Warning To Clients Draws Debate

    An advocate for lowering drug prices squared off Friday against a former U.S. Patent and Trademark Office director about the potential risk of accepting government funds to develop drugs, as part of a discussion at New York University School of Law.

  • September 27, 2024

    Meta's Password Storage Flub Draws €91M Irish Fine

    Ireland's data protection authority has hit Facebook parent company Meta Platforms Inc. with a €91 million ($101.5 million) penalty for allegedly storing users' passwords without encryption or other necessary safeguards, the regulator announced Friday. 

  • September 27, 2024

    Constitution Permits Blocked Anti-Laundering Law, Panel Told

    The U.S. government urged the Eleventh Circuit on Friday to reinstate the Corporate Transparency Act passed in 2021, arguing that the anti-money laundering law is within Congress' powers to regulate economic activity and necessary to have businesses report beneficial ownership to combat crimes like tax evasion and terrorist financing.

  • September 27, 2024

    UK Man Indicted On $4M 'Hack-To-Trade' Scheme

    New Jersey federal prosecutors announced Friday that a U.K. man has been arrested and is awaiting extradition on charges of hacking into the email accounts of several corporate executives in order to steal nonpublic information that he used to turn a profit of almost $4 million.

  • September 27, 2024

    FCC Chief Says Chevron's Fall Won't Slow Needed Regs

    Upcoming Federal Communications Commission rules are likely to survive judicial scrutiny even after the Chevron doctrine's demise because the policies are grounded on not only legal analysis but in-depth economic and engineering studies, the agency's chief said Friday.

  • September 27, 2024

    L'Oréal Can't Turn Off Try-On Tool BIPA Suit

    An Illinois federal judge on Friday refused to dismiss a proposed class action accusing L'Oréal USA of violating Illinois' biometric privacy law with its virtual try-on tool, saying the beauty giant failed to give the plaintiff constructive notice of its arbitration terms and that she'd done enough at this stage to plausibly allege it collected her biometric identifiers.

  • September 27, 2024

    Ga. Hospital Patients Ask Judge to Revive Facebook Data Suit

    A proposed class of patients claiming Piedmont Healthcare Inc. unlawfully shared their confidential health data with Facebook urged a federal judge to rethink his late-August decision tossing their suit, saying the judge failed to consider their claims the health system criminally violated HIPAA's privacy rule. 

  • September 27, 2024

    Insurer Says No Coverage For Conn. Firm's Data Breach

    A Connecticut personal injury firm's insurance company says it won't foot the bill for claims stemming from a hacker breaking into the firm's email system and stealing over $750,000 from a client, saying the firm's professional liability policy excluded "cyber security events."

  • September 27, 2024

    Gunster Says Absence Of Damages Sinks Data Breach Case

    Gunster Yoakley & Stewart PA wants a proposed class action lawsuit against it tossed in Florida federal court, arguing plaintiffs who had their personal information compromised when the law firm fell victim to a cyberattack can't show any harm was done.

  • September 27, 2024

    Feds Charge 3 Iranians In Trump Campaign Hack

    The U.S. Department of Justice on Friday unsealed an indictment accusing three Iranian citizens of hacking Donald Trump's presidential campaign as part of a "wide-ranging" cyber scheme that sought to sow distrust in U.S. elections.

  • September 26, 2024

    Attys Worry OpenAI IP Row Will Drag On Amid AI Policy Push

    A BigLaw attorney and consumer advocates found common ground during the seventh annual Berkeley Law AI Institute on Thursday expressing concerns that courts won't timely adjudicate copyright claims against OpenAI and others, while an FTC attorney noted the commission is already enforcing the Federal Trade Act against companies for over-hyping their AI.

  • September 26, 2024

    Legal Pros Grapple With Best Use Of AI As Clients Divide

    BigLaw attorneys and in-house counsel speaking at the annual Berkeley Law AI Institute on Thursday talked about how they've recently grappled with using the tools known as artificial intelligence in representing clients, saying some clients have either demanded or prohibited attorneys from using the tools, and others have taken seemingly contradictory positions.

  • September 26, 2024

    HHS Flags Ransomware Rise In New Deal With Wash. Provider

    A Washington state-based healthcare provider has agreed to pay $250,000 and boost its data security to resolve the U.S. Department of Health and Human Service's enforcement action over a 2017 ransomware attack, amid what the agency said has been a steep rise in reports of such cyberattacks over the past six years. 

  • September 26, 2024

    Senate Bill Calls For Stronger Healthcare Cyber Standards

    Democratic lawmakers introduced legislation Thursday aiming to better protect patient health information and avoid cyberattacks by strengthening cybersecurity standards, months after a highly publicized data breach earlier this year of a UnitedHealth unit that lacked basic security measures like two-factor authentication.

  • September 26, 2024

    Colo. AG Says He Won't Call 'Ticky Tack' Privacy Fouls

    Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser told an audience of attorneys and privacy professionals Thursday that part of his privacy enforcement strategy is not to needle companies that are trying to comply with the law for minor violations.

  • September 26, 2024

    Snowflake, AT&T Data Breach Suit Must Be Joined, JPML Told

    An attorney for plaintiffs suing cloud provider Snowflake Inc., which counts AT&T Inc. among its clients and suffered a series of high-profile hacks, urged the Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation Thursday to consolidate all related litigation, saying the disputes revolve around common issues.

  • September 26, 2024

    En Banc 9th Circ. Doubts Dismissal Of Shopify Privacy Suit

    Ninth Circuit judges sitting en banc Thursday appeared dubious of an earlier panel's conclusion that a California federal court lacked personal jurisdiction over Golden State consumers' privacy claims against Shopify Inc., questioning how internet companies could ever face tort claims if this were the law.

  • September 26, 2024

    Investor Ordered To Deposit $336K In Pot Co. Contract Suit

    A Nevada magistrate judge has ordered Capital Pure Assets Ltd. to deposit $336,000 with the court as part of a dispute with a cannabis payment company's subsidiary over a failed business venture, finding the subsidiary is likely to succeed on its claims that CPA tricked it into putting that amount into an escrow fund.

  • September 26, 2024

    Arthur J. Gallagher To Pay $21M To End Data Breach Suits

    Insurance broker Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has agreed to pay $21 million to resolve several lawsuits consolidated in Illinois alleging that it failed to protect more than 3 million customers from a data breach that compromised their personally identifiable information, with an Illinois federal judge giving her initial blessing to the deal Thursday.

  • September 26, 2024

    Apple Protests Atty Fee Bid In $35M Deal With Scam Victims

    Apple Inc. urged a California federal court to limit the fee awarded to plaintiffs' attorneys from a $35 million settlement over allegations it did not stop scammers from tricking victims into using iTunes gift cards for payments, saying the 33% fee sought is too high for the "fair but unexceptional recovery."

  • September 25, 2024

    In-House Counsel To Play Central Role At AI Cos., VCs Say

    Venture capital firms expect in-house counsel at artificial intelligence companies to play a bigger role in their businesses due to regulatory uncertainties around AI, while a professor who helped pioneer the technology warned that transparency of commercial AI businesses should be "top of mind," attorneys heard at the seventh annual Berkeley Law AI Institute Wednesday.

  • September 25, 2024

    DoorDash, Uber Eats, Grubhub Win NYC Diner Data Law Row

    A New York federal judge on Tuesday granted DoorDash Inc. and other food delivery app companies a win in their lawsuit challenging a New York City law requiring delivery services to provide restaurants with certain customer info, ruling that the law is unconstitutional.

Expert Analysis

  • Fintech Compliance Amid Regulatory Focus On Sensitive Data

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    The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's recent, expansive pursuit of financial services companies using sensitive personal information signals a move into the Federal Trade Commission's territory, and the path forward for fintech and financial service providers involves a balance between innovation and compliance, say attorneys at Wilson Sonsini.

  • Series

    Playing Music Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    My deep and passionate involvement in playing, writing and producing music equipped me with skills — like creativity, improvisation and problem-solving — that contribute to the success of my legal career, says attorney Kenneth Greene.

  • How AI Cos. Can Cope With Shifting Copyright Landscape

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    In the evolving landscape of artificial intelligence, recent legal disputes have focused on the utilization of copyrighted material to train algorithms, meaning companies should be aware of fair use implications and possible licensing solutions for AI users, say Michael Hobbs and Justin Tilghman at Troutman Pepper.

  • How Attys Can Avoid Pitfalls When Withdrawing From A Case

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    The Trump campaign's recent scuffle over its bid to replace its counsel in a pregnancy retaliation suit offers a chance to remind attorneys that many troubles inherent in withdrawing from a case can be mitigated or entirely avoided by communicating with clients openly and frequently, says Christopher Konneker at Orsinger Nelson.

  • The Effects Of New 10-Year Limitation On Key Sanctions Laws

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    Recently enacted emergency appropriations legislation, doubling the statute of limitations for civil and criminal economic sanctions violations, has significant implications for internal records retention, corporate transaction due diligence and government investigations, say attorneys at Greenberg Traurig.

  • Supply Chain Considerations For Companies Deploying AI

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    Many businesses will risk failure by embracing artificial intelligence without fully understanding the risks, and the value of a five-step AI supply chain analysis cannot be overstated, say Brooke Berg and Nathan Staffel at Nardello & Co.

  • Opinion

    DOJ Messaging App Warnings Undermine Trust In Counsel

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    The U.S. Department of Justice Antitrust Division's increasingly ominous warnings to defense and in-house counsel about the consequences of not preserving ephemeral messaging and messages sent using collaboration tools could erode confidence and cooperation, says Mark Rosman at Proskauer.

  • Using A Children's Book Approach In Firm Marketing Content

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    From “The Giving Tree” to “Where the Wild Things Are,” most children’s books are easy to remember because they use simple words and numbers to tell stories with a human impact — a formula law firms should emulate in their marketing content to stay front of mind for potential clients, says Seema Desai Maglio at The Found Word.

  • Compliance Considerations For New Data Protection Law

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    Sam Castic at Hintze Law discusses how to determine if your organization is covered by the newly enacted Protecting Americans' Data from Foreign Adversaries Act, the scope of the law's restrictions, and how to go about compliance as its June 23 effective date approaches.

  • What The FTC Report On AG Collabs Means For Cos.

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    The Federal Trade Commission's April report on working with state attorneys general shows collaboration can increase efficiency and consistency in how statutes are interpreted and enforced, which can minimize the likelihood of requests for inconsistent injunctive relief that can create operational problems for businesses, say attorneys at Kelley Drye.

  • Crypto Mixer Laundering Case Provides Evidentiary Road Map

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    A Washington, D.C., federal court’s recent decision to allow expert testimony on blockchain analysis software in a bitcoin mixer money laundering case — which ultimately ended in conviction — establishes a precedent for the admissibility of similar software-derived evidence, say Peter Hardy and Kelly Lenahan-Pfahlert at Ballard Spahr.

  • Series

    Being An EMT Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    While some of my experiences as an emergency medical technician have been unusually painful and searing, the skills I’ve learned — such as triage, empathy and preparedness — are just as useful in my work as a restructuring lawyer, says Marshall Huebner at Davis Polk.

  • The Opportunities, Risks And Rewards Of AI Acquisitions

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    As artificial intelligence acquisitions become an increasing area of focus for investors and technology buyers, entities should pay special attention to target identification, due diligence and more when structuring and executing a transaction with a company that has an AI-centric business model, say attorneys at Foley & Lardner.

  • Legal Issues To Watch As Deepfake Voices Proliferate

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    With increasingly sophisticated and accessible voice-cloning technology raising social, ethical and legal questions, particularly in the entertainment industry and politics, further legislative intervention and court proceedings seem very likely, say Shruti Chopra and Paul Joseph at Linklaters.

  • AI And Trade Controls: A Guide To Expanding Restrictions

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    With restrictions on trade related to commodities, software and technology integral to high-performing artificial intelligence capabilities expected to expand — particularly between the U.S. and China — companies must carefully consider the export classification of the items they design, produce or procure, say attorneys at Hogan Lovells.

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