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Meredith Halama serves as an authority on online and mobile advertising practices.

International, federal, and state privacy regulators highlighted their ambitious agendas at the 2023 IAPP Global Privacy Summit in Washington, D.C. They, along with speakers from an array of private organizations, underscored the following takeaways that should be top of mind for businesses:

Continue Reading Ten Takeaways From the 2023 IAPP Global Privacy Summit

After years out of circulation, class-action lawsuits asserting claims under the Video Protection Privacy Act are now back in reruns. More than 100 putative class actions alleging violations of the VPPA have been filed against publishers that use the Meta pixel on their websites.

It remains to be seen whether these lawsuits will survive evaluation

The Federal Trade Commission on March 2, 2023, announced a proposed complaint and proposed consent order with BetterHelp, Inc., an online counseling platform that allegedly disclosed consumer health data to third-party advertising platforms. The settlement requires payment of $7.8 million to be used for consumer refunds—the first time an FTC action has required the return

The Board of the California Privacy Protection Agency (CPPA) approved a rulemaking package covering Sections 7000–7304 of their draft regulations on February 3, 2023. The board also initiated preliminary rulemaking activities for risk assessments, cybersecurity audits, and automated decision-making. In approving the rulemaking package, the CPPA did not make substantive changes to the version of its draft regulations published in October 2022, indicating that any changes following from the more than 400 pages of public comment analysis could be advanced in future rulemaking activities.

Continue Reading Almost There and Starting Again: CPPA Votes To Finalize Regulations and Launches Round Two

As it did last year, the California Attorney General’s Office recognized Data Privacy Day by announcing its latest investigative sweep under the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA). This time, the Attorney General focused on companies that operate mobile apps allegedly without offering CCPA-compliant opt-out mechanisms.

Continue Reading California Attorney General Targets Popular Mobile Apps in CCPA Enforcement Sweep

The Colorado attorney general’s office sent shockwaves throughout the privacy world on September 30, 2022, when it published its proposed Colorado Privacy Act (CPA) draft rules (Draft Rules). The Draft Rules are complex and comprehensive; at 38 pages of single-spaced text, they are longer than the CPA itself. The Draft Rules are accompanied by a

The Federal Trade Commission filed a lawsuit on August 29, 2022, against data broker Kochava Inc., alleging that the company’s sale of precise geolocation data is an unfair act or practice that violates Section 5 of the FTC Act. The case follows an FTC blog post warning that the agency would be vigilant in protecting

On August 11, 2022, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) issued an advance notice of proposed rulemaking (ANPRM), kicking off its long-awaited rulemaking on commercial surveillance and data security.

The ANPRM is the first step in a long process that could result in the adoption of a federal regulation addressing privacy, data security, and use of

Last week, the Consumer Privacy Protection Agency (Agency) Board rounded out the first half of 2022 by releasing draft California Privacy Rights Act (CPRA) regulations. This first set of CPRA regulations focus on updating existing California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) regulations to account for the new provisions of the CPRA and addressing specific areas such

In its most recent open meeting, the Federal Trade Commission unanimously: (1) issued a Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act policy statement directed at ed tech providers, and (2) proposed amendments to the Endorsement Guides, which address influencer advertising on social media and consumer reviews.

The COPPA policy statement makes clear that the FTC is