Legal: California Governor Passes Data Broker Registration Law

Nevada’s new privacy law became effective on October 1, 2019. It provides Nevada residents with a limited right to opt out of the sale of personal information. Although a bit narrow in scope, the law possesses some similarities to the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) which becomes effective January 1, 2020. In short, businesses that … Read more

In recent testimony before the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Financial Services and General Government, the Federal Trade Commission described its work to protect consumers and promote competition. Testifying on behalf of the Commission, FTC attorney and Chairman Joseph Simons, along with Commissioner Rohit Chopra outlined the FTC’s work in areas that include, without limitation, privacy, … Read more

As previously blogged about here, the FTC’s enforcement authority has been under attack. The agency authority to obtain disgorgement under a theory of “ancillary equitable relief” got clipped by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit. What’s more, the court ignored long-standing precedent in doing so. The issue is this. Does the FTC … Read more

Courts continue to grapple and split on what qualifies as an “automated telephone dialing system.”  This creates uncertainty for telemarketers about potential liability exposure in a time when TCPA lawsuits continue to be filed in large numbers and FTC lawyers are aggressively enforcing the Telemarketing Sales Rule. Some courts have since held that a predictive … Read more

A federal court in Ohio recently granted a motion to dismiss a TCPA case because the plaintiff did not properly alleged that he did not provide consent to receive telephone calls. In Whiteacre v. Nations Lending Corp., et al., No. 19-CV-809, 2019 WL 3477262 (N.D. Ohio Jul. 31, 2019), the plaintiff alleged that defendants Nations … Read more

The Federal Trade Commission and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration recently sent joint warning letters to four companies that manufacture and advertise flavored liquids used in vaping. Despite the fact that the letters focus upon nicotine content, they are more broadly instructive for cannabis advertisers. Consider that the letters discuss the lack of warnings about addiction … Read more

On June 24, 2019, in the matter of Food Marketing Institute v. Argus Leader Media, the U.S. Supreme Court held that confidential commercial and financial information provided to the U.S. government by private parties is subject to exemption from disclosure under the Freedom of Information Act (“FOIA”), even though disclosure of that information would not … Read more

The Federal Trade Commission and its law enforcement partners have announced a crackdown on illegal robocalls, including 94 actions targeting operations around the country that are responsible for more than one billion calls pitching a variety of products and services including credit card interest rate reduction services, money-making opportunities and medical alert systems. Dubbed “Operation … Read more

The U.S. Department of Justice’s Criminal Division recently released an update to the guidance document “Evaluation of Corporate Compliance Programs.” Immediately thereafter, the Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control published “A Framework for OFAC Compliance Commitments,” which provides guidance on effective sanctions compliance programs. The OFAC is the primary federal agency that … Read more

Passed in 2018, the California Consumer Privacy Act (the “Act”) has been the subject of consistent controversy, criticism from tech lobbyists and support from privacy advocates. It grants “consumers” various rights with regard to personal information held by a covered “business,” including the rights of notice, access, deletion, portability and reasonable security. It also requires … Read more