Earlier, we reported on the passage of a sweeping new data protection law in Mexico. Recently, the law went into effect earlier this month. The new law drastically expands the powers of Mexico’s data protection authority, which has now been renamed the “Federal Institute of Access to Information and Data Protection.”
Opt Out Rejected by the EU Data Protection Authorities for Online Behavioral Advertising
By Cecile Martin on
In an opinion issued on June 22, 2010, the EU Data Protection Authorities (Article 29 Working Party) clarified the legal framework applicable to online behavioral advertising – an activity that is becoming a hot topic for discussion as its popularity grows. Among other things, the Article 29 Working Party clearly took the position that it is incumbent upon advertising network providers to “create prior opt-in mechanisms requiring an affirmative action by the users indicating their willingness to receive cookies and the subsequent monitoring of their surfing behavior for the purposes of serving tailored advertising.”
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New HIPAA Cop: First AG Settlement for HIPAA Violations
By Sara Krauss on
Last week, the Connecticut Attorney General became the first state attorney general to enter into a settlement agreement for HIPAA violations, as a result of the new authority granted to attorneys general under the Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health Act (HITECH Act).
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Supreme Court of California Decision Upholds Promotional E-mail Sender’s Method of Avoiding E-mail Filters
Posted on
The Supreme Court of California held that Vonage did not violate California law by sending commercial e-mail advertisements to individuals from multiple domain names for the purpose of bypassing e-mail filters.
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Proskauer Litigators Notch Another Victory for The Bank of New York Mellon in “Identity Exposure” Lawsuit
By Proskauer Rose on
On June 25, 2010, Judge Richard Berman of the U.S. District Court of the Southern District of New York granted summary judgment to The Bank of New York Mellon Corp. in Hammond v. The Bank of New York Mellon Corp., dismissing in its entirety a putative class action lawsuit arising from the loss of backup tapes containing personal information in the spring of 2008. Judge Berman’s dismissal represents yet another in a long, and still growing, line of cases standing for the proposition that without more, the mere exposure of personal information is not an adequate basis for a lawsuit.
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Twitter’s Settlement With the FTC Demonstrates that “Reasonable Security” Isn’t Only About Online Commerce
By Andrew Hoffman on
The social networking and micro-blogging service Twitter recently agreed to settle charges with the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) regarding its privacy and data security practices. Similar to settlement terms reached with other online merchants, the settlement bars Twitter for 20 years from misleading consumers about the extent to which it protects the security, privacy, and confidentiality of nonpublic consumer information. Notably, the agreement also requires Twitter to maintain a comprehensive information security program and submit to audits of the program for 10 years. The settlement agreement does not include a monetary penalty. The FTC alleged that despite Twitter’s promises on its website to protect the personal information of its users, Twitter’s practices failed to provide reasonable and appropriate security. Unlike many of the other companies that the FTC has pursued regarding online security practices, Twitter does not sell goods online or collect financial information from its users.
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Federal Court Limits Warrantless Border Searches
By Scott Carpenter on
According to a federal court in the Northern District of California, United States border agents may not search a laptop without a warrant several months after the agents seized the laptop.