The State Administration for Industry and Commerce of the People's Republic of China published a draft of its Implementing Regulations for the P.R.C. Law on the Protection of the Rights and Interests of Consumers for public comment. The draft is open for comment until September 5, 2016.… Continue Reading
On July 25, 2016, the Article 29 Working Party and the European Data Protection Supervisor released their respective Opinions regarding the evaluation and review of Directive 2002/58/EC on privacy and electronic communications. Both the Working Party and the EDPS stressed that new rules should complement the protections available under the EU General Data Protection Regulation. … Continue Reading
On June 28, 2016, the UK Information Commissioner's Office released its Annual Report for 2015 - 2016. This blog post provides a summary of the report.… Continue Reading
On June 22, 2016, the Federal Trade Commission announced that it reached a settlement with a mobile advertising company, InMobi, to resolve charges that the company deceptively tracked hundreds of millions of consumers’ locations without their knowledge or consent. Among other requirements, the settlement orders the company to pay 950,000 dollars in civil penalties. … Continue Reading
TCCWNA. The very acronym evokes head scratches and sighs of angst and frustration among many in the retail industry. The New Jersey Truth-in-Consumer Contract Warranty and Notice Act was passed in 1981 to protect consumers from allegedly deceptive practices in consumer contracts, warranties, notices and signs. Continue reading for an in-depth view of the TCCWNA and what retailers can do to minimize risk. … Continue Reading
On June 1, 2016, a new do-not-call list was implemented in France. French residents who do not wish to receive marketing phone calls may register their landline or mobile phone number online at www.bloctel.gouv.fr.… Continue Reading
The Federal Trade Commission announced that it will host a workshop on September 15, 2016, "Putting Disclosures to the Test," on the efficacy and costs of consumer disclosures advertising and privacy policies. … Continue Reading
The Federal Trade Commission issued enforcement guidance on “native advertising” — ads that purposely are formatted to appear as noncommercial and are integrated into surrounding editorial content. The agency’s guidance took two parts: an Enforcement Policy Statement on deceptively formatted ads, and a Guide for Business on native advertising. Importantly, the FTC notes that its policy statement does not apply just to advertisers but also applies to other parties that help create the content: ad agencies, ad networks and potentially, publishers.… Continue Reading
On December 30, 2015, the Pew Research Center released a report on the results of a recent survey that asked 461 Americans about their feelings toward sharing personal information with companies. … Continue Reading
On December 17, 2015, the FTC announced a pair of COPPA settlements against operators of child-direct mobile apps available for download in the major app stores. These cases are the FTC’s first COPPA actions involving the collection of persistent identifiers from children since the FTC’s updated COPPA Rule went into effect in 2013.… Continue Reading
Hunton & Williams welcomes Phyllis Marcus as counsel to the firm’s privacy and competition teams. Phyllis joins the firm from the Federal Trade Commission, where she most recently served as Chief of Staff of the Division of Advertising Practices.… Continue Reading
On October 2, 2015, California Attorney General Kamala D. Harris announced that her office settled a lawsuit against an online home design company, Houzz Inc., stemming from allegations that the company impermissibly recorded phone calls without appropriately notifying the parties to the calls.… Continue Reading
On September 25, 2015, the UK Information Commissioner’s Office issued a fine of 200,000 pounds to Home Energy and Lifestyle Management Ltd. for making a large number of automated marketing calls in violation of the UK’s direct marketing laws. … Continue Reading
On September 2, 2015, the Information Commissioner’s Office announced an investigation into the data sharing practices of charities in the United Kingdom. The announcement follows the publication of an article in a UK newspaper highlighting the data sharing and marketing practices of certain charities.… Continue Reading
On July 10, 2015, the Federal Communications Commission released a Declaratory Ruling and Order that responds to several requests from industry, government and others seeking clarifications regarding the Telephone Consumer Protection Act.… Continue Reading
On June 30, 2015, the French Data Protection Authority summarized the results of the cookie inspections it conducted at the end of 2014.… Continue Reading
The Digital Advertising Alliance recently announced that, as of September 1, 2015, the Council of Better Business Bureaus and the Direct Marketing Association will begin to enforce the DAA Self-Regulatory Principles for Online Behavioral Advertising and the Multi-Site Data Principles in the mobile environment.… Continue Reading
On May 13, 2015, the Belgian Data Protection Authority published a recommendation addressing Facebook’s social plug-in practices. The Recommendation stems from the recent discussions between the Belgian Data Protection Authority and Facebook regarding its privacy policy and the tracking of Internet activities.… Continue Reading
On February 26, 2015, the Department of Education’s Privacy Technical Assistance Center issued guidance to assist schools, school districts and vendors with understanding the primary laws regulating student privacy and how compliance with those laws may be affected by Terms of Service offered by providers of online educational services and mobile applications.… Continue Reading
On February 4, 2015, the German government adopted a draft law to improve the enforcement of data protection provisions that are focused on consumer protection.… Continue Reading
On January 14, 2015, the data protection authority of the German federal state of Schleswig-Holstein issued an appeal challenging a September 4, 2014 decision by the Administrative Court of Appeals, which held that companies using Facebook’s fan pages cannot be held responsible for data protection law violations committed by Facebook because the companies do not have any control over the use of the data. … Continue Reading
On September 3, 2014, the Federal Communications Commission announced that Verizon has agreed to pay 7.4 million dollars to settle an FCC Enforcement Bureau investigation into Verizon's use of customer personal information for marketing.… Continue Reading
On September 2, 2014, a federal district court in California granted final approval to a settlement ending a class action against Bank of America and FIA Card Services. The suit stemmed from allegations that the defendants violated the Telephone Consumer Protection Act when they called or texted consumers' cell phones without the consumers' prior express consent. … Continue Reading
