Privacy Law Blog

Monthly Archives: April 2013

The SEC and CFTC Adopt Identity Theft Red Flag Rules

The Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”) and Commodity Futures Trading Commission (the “CFTC”) recently adopted rules requiring entities subject to their respective enforcement authorities to adopt and implement programs to detect and respond to indicators of possible identity theft, as required by the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act of 2010 (the … Continue Reading

Navigating the Patchwork: When Is European Data Privacy Law Applicable to US Companies?

Are social media companies based in the United States subject to European data privacy laws?  Two recent judicial decisions – one in France and the other in Germany – arrived at different answers.  The Civil Court of Paris held that Twitter, based in California, was obligated under the French Code of Civil Procedure to reveal … Continue Reading

Shine the Light a Little Brighter – Changes Resulting in Increased Customer Access Proposed to California’s “Shine the Light” Act

California Assembly Member, Bonnie Lowenthal, recently introduced the “Right to Know Act of 2013” (AB 1291), which would require any company that retains a  California resident’s personal information to provide a copy of that information to that person, free of charge, within 30 days of the request. The company would also have to disclose a … Continue Reading

New Mexico Joins Other States in Prohibiting Employers from Requesting Access to Applicants’ Social Networking Accounts

On April 5, 2013, New Mexico joined six other states (including, among others, Utah, Maryland and California) in passing a new law prohibiting employers from requesting or requiring that a prospective employee provide access to his or her social networking accounts.  Proskauer’s Labor & Employment group has discussed the new law here. … Continue Reading

Six European Data Protection Authorities Will Launch Legal Actions against Google Stemming from its Privacy Policy

The French, Italian, British, German, Spanish and Dutch Data Protection Authorities announced on April 2, 2013 that each will launch investigations and enforcement actions against Google on the grounds that its privacy policy is not compliant with the European Directive on Data Protection, available at http://eur-lex.europa.eu/en/index.htm, (the “Directive”).… Continue Reading

Massachusetts Supreme Court Rules ZIP Codes Are Definitely “Personal Identification Information”

In a recent ruling arising from certain certified questions in Tyler v. Michaels Stores, Inc., Civ. No. 11-10920-WGY (D. Mass. Jan. 6, 2012, the Massachusetts Supreme Court interpreted “personal identification information” under Mass. Gen. Laws, ch. 93, § 105(a) Section 105(a) to include a consumer’s ZIP code and determined that collecting such personal information is … Continue Reading
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