Cybersecurity & Privacy

  • April 09, 2024

    $350M Google Privacy Settlement Receives Initial Approval

    A California federal judge on Tuesday gave the first green light to a $350 million settlement between Google's parent company, Alphabet, and investors over claims the company deceived them about a March 2018 software glitch that allegedly gave third-party app developers the ability to access the private profile data of 500,000 users of the Google Plus social media site.

  • April 09, 2024

    2nd Circ. Doubts Venue 'Error' In Conn. Malware Convictions

    The Second Circuit on Tuesday wondered why a Russian national convicted of providing technical support to a worldwide computer crime network waited until after his trial to argue that a Connecticut federal district court was the wrong venue for the matter, as the convict leaned on testimony from the leader of the Kelihos botnet to make his case during oral argument.

  • April 09, 2024

    Spirit Flies Away From Wiretap Suit Over Site User Tracking

    Spirit Airlines has beaten, for now, a consolidated proposed class action alleging that it flouted privacy and wiretapping laws by gathering its website users' communications after a Pennsylvania federal judge said the plaintiffs haven't responded to Spirit's argument that its software doesn't gather personal information and accordingly suffered no injury and lack standing.

  • April 09, 2024

    Treasury Renews Call For Tools To Combat Crypto Crime

    Deputy Treasury Secretary Wally Adeyemo on Tuesday renewed his call to Congress for additional tools to combat cryptocurrency's use by bad actors as lawmakers floated their own priorities for a cryptocurrency regulatory regime.

  • April 09, 2024

    Nonprofit Seeks Over $300K Atty Fees Over X Defamation Win

    A nonprofit organization focused on challenging hate speech asked a California federal judge to approve more than $300,000 in attorney fees following a successful defense against Elon Musk and social platform X Corp.'s claims over an allegedly defamatory article.

  • April 09, 2024

    Ariz. High Court Restores Civil War-Era Abortion Ban

    The Arizona Supreme Court on Tuesday revived the state's nearly 160-year-old abortion ban, concluding that a far more recent law that had allowed abortion through 15 weeks of pregnancy did not replace the older prohibition.

  • April 09, 2024

    Printer Buyers Defend HP Ink Cartridge Antitrust Claims

    HP printer buyers told an Illinois federal court they've done enough to show that HP monopolized the market for replacement ink cartridges by alleging the company used firmware updates to lock them into purchasing HP ink cartridges.

  • April 09, 2024

    Ashley Biden Diary Stealer Gets Prison For 'Despicable' Conduct

    A Manhattan federal judge on Tuesday sentenced a Florida woman to a month in prison for stealing the diary of President Joe Biden's daughter and selling it to Project Veritas, imposing sentence after a lengthy and unusual series of adjournments.

  • April 08, 2024

    FCC Seeks To Stop Abusers From Tracking Connected Cars

    The Federal Communications Commission is seeking input on how to prevent connected-car technologies from being used to stalk and harass targets of domestic abuse.

  • April 08, 2024

    Credit Reporters Falling Short On Trafficking Rule, CFPB Says

    The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau said Monday that its examiners have been seeing problems in the credit reporting industry with the accuracy and integrity of information that companies are relaying about consumers, including violations of certain recent protections for human trafficking survivors.

  • April 08, 2024

    Norton, Quinn Emanuel Rip Contempt Order In $600M IP Case

    A more than $600 million judgment against NortonLifeLock for infringing Columbia University patents, based partly on a contempt finding against its former law firm, Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan LLP, is "indefensible" and cannot stand, the company and the firm have told the Federal Circuit.

  • April 08, 2024

    McConnell Expresses Support For TikTok Divestiture Bill

    Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., on Monday stressed the need for the House-passed bill to clamp down on TikTok, citing vast national security concerns.

  • April 08, 2024

    Ex-BigLaw Atty Takes Stalking Injunction Bid To State Court

    A former Greenberg Traurig LLP partner suing a social media influencer in a $150 million case alleging the influencer falsely accused the attorney of abuse in online videos on Monday moved to Florida state court an injunction petition to have the videos taken down. 

  • April 08, 2024

    Key Congressional Leaders Float Sweeping Data Privacy Bill

    The heads of the U.S. Senate and House commerce committees have taken a major step toward enacting a comprehensive federal consumer data privacy framework, reaching a long-awaited deal on proposed legislation that would minimize the personal data companies can gather, allow consumers to bring lawsuits and eliminate a growing patchwork of state laws.

  • April 05, 2024

    PNC Must Face Customer's Suit, Judge Says After Fixing Error

    A federal judge in Philadelphia reissued an opinion Friday requiring PNC Bank NA to face a customer's breach of contract suit after an earlier decision mischaracterized parties involved in an alleged check-forging scheme as PNC employees.

  • April 05, 2024

    COVID App Takes Another Shot At Apple With Justices

    App developers are again seeking U.S. Supreme Court intervention against the Ninth Circuit's refusal to revive antitrust allegations over Apple's rejection of COVID-19-tracking and bitcoin apps, decrying "fundamental error" lower courts made misreading pleading requirements, proffered market definition and more.

  • April 05, 2024

    Wow Bao Says Customer Can't Prove Kiosk Data Collection

    Asian fast-food chain Wow Bao has urged an Illinois state court judge to grant it summary judgment in a biometric privacy suit targeting the company's self-serve kiosks, arguing it cannot be held liable for collecting or possessing data it never in fact had.

  • April 05, 2024

    Justices Urged To 'Shut The Door' On Meta Disclosure Suit

    The U.S. Supreme Court should "shut the door" on private securities lawsuits that could create a bloated disclosure regime and hurt businesses and investors alike, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce said Friday in a brief backing Meta Platforms Inc.'s call for the justices to hear a shareholder proposed class action over the Cambridge Analytica data abuse scandal.

  • April 05, 2024

    Top 3 Groups Lobbying The FCC

    The Federal Communications Commission heard from policy advocates more than 200 times in March, as the agency fielded concerns on net neutrality rules, bulk billing for internet service, broadband deployment, school connectivity and more.

  • April 05, 2024

    Insurer Denies Coverage In Pet Store BIPA Class Action

    An insurer told a Michigan federal court Friday that it didn't have to cover a pet store in an underlying employee proposed class action alleging the store violated Illinois' Biometric Information Privacy Act because the claims were precluded by the policy and a state statute of limitations.

  • April 05, 2024

    Beverage Giant Sued Under Illinois Genetic Privacy Law

    Reyes Holdings, the largest beer distributor in the United States, has been sued in Illinois state court by a proposed class of job applicants who claim their genetic privacy rights were violated when they were required to submit to physical exams and inquiries about their family medical history as a condition of employment at the beverage distributor or its subsidiaries.

  • April 05, 2024

    Nationwide Optometry To Pay $3.4M Over 2021 Data Breach

    Nationwide Optometry will pay $3.4 million to a proposed class of approximately 714,000 patients whose personal information was compromised following a ransomware attack in 2021 on network servers belonging to co-defendant U.S. Vision, according to a preliminary approval motion filed in New Jersey federal court.

  • April 05, 2024

    Solar Company Hit With TCPA Suit After $13.8M FTC Fine

    Months after the Federal Trade Commission slapped lead generation firm Solar Xchange with a $13.8 million fine for sending out millions of pestering calls to people on the National Do-Not-Call Registry, one recipient of those calls has filed suit in Massachusetts federal court to seek his own recompense.

  • April 05, 2024

    Judicial Nominees On Schumer's Post-Recess To-Do List

    Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., laid out on Friday a busy agenda for when Congress returns next week, which includes confirming the president's judicial nominees.

  • April 05, 2024

    Ex-Acting Homeland Security GC Joins Nixon Peabody In DC

    Nixon Peabody LLP has hired the former acting general counsel of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, who joins the firm after working with the agency for more than two decades and through four presidential administrations.

Expert Analysis

  • 5 Litigation Funding Trends To Note In 2024

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    Over the next year and beyond, litigation funding will continue to evolve in ways that affect attorneys and the larger litigation landscape, from the growth of a secondary market for funded claims, to rising interest rates restricting the availability of capital, says Jeffery Lula at GLS Capital.

  • 5 Securities Litigation Issues To Watch In 2024

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    There is yet another exciting year ahead for securities litigation, starting with the U.S. Supreme Court hearing argument next week in a case presenting a key securities class action question that has eluded review for the last eight years, say attorneys at Willkie.

  • Unpacking NIST's Guidance On Genomic Data Cybersecurity

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    The National Institute of Standards and Technology's final internal report on cybersecurity of genomic data highlights unique concerns associated with the use of such data and provides strong recommendations for risk management, though one area of the report may cause some confusion, say attorneys at Ropes & Gray.

  • A Look At Consumer Reporting In 2023, And What's To Come

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    The legal landscape of consumer reporting is evolving as courts, federal regulators and state legislatures continue to weigh in — and while last year may have seen a slight downtick in the overall volume of Fair Credit Reporting Act litigation, 2024 is set to be a watershed year for this area of the law, say attorneys at Troutman Pepper.

  • What To Know About FCA Cybersecurity Enforcement

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    Now is a good time for practitioners, government contractors and potential relators to review recent developments in cybersecurity-related False Claims Act enforcement, and consider best practices for navigating this space in the new year, say Ellen London at London & Stout, and Li Yu and Molly Knobler at DiCello Levitt.

  • 8 Privacy Law Predictions For 2024

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    As the new year begins, looking back to several of last year's privacy law developments may help companies forecast what to focus on when updating their privacy programs, including children's privacy, so-called dark patterns and the collection of data by connected cars, say attorneys at Sheppard Mullin.

  • 4 Legal Ethics Considerations For The New Year

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    As attorneys and clients reset for a new year, now is a good time to take a step back and review some core ethical issues that attorneys should keep front of mind in 2024, including approaching generative artificial intelligence with caution and care, and avoiding pitfalls in outside counsel guidelines, say attorneys at HWG.

  • FTC Rite Aid Order Holds Biometrics And AI Compliance Tips

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    The Federal Trade Commission's recent enforcement action against Rite Aid over its use of facial biometric technology on customers provides lessons that can be leveraged to reduce and manage the risk of regulatory scrutiny of biometrics and artificial intelligence, says David Oberly at Baker Donelson.

  • Series

    In The CFPB Playbook: Rulemaking Rush Before Election Year

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    In this quarterly Consumer Financial Protection Bureau activity recap by former bureau personnel, attorneys at McGuireWoods explain the regulator's recent push to finalize new rules about data aggregators, digital payment apps and more before the election-year Congressional Review Act window opens.

  • Ill. BIPA Ruling May Spark Violation-Of-Law Exclusion Fight

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    An Illinois appeals court's recent holding in National Fire Insurance v. Visual Pak that a violation-of-law exclusion didn't preclude coverage for an underlying Biometric Information Privacy Act suit contradicts an earlier Seventh Circuit decision that aligns with long-standing insurance law principles — which may lead the state's high court to weigh in, says Tae Andrews at Pasich.

  • 5 Privacy And Cybersecurity Resolutions For 2024

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    In 2023, companies grappled with an unprecedented array of data privacy and cybersecurity challenges that are likely to continue in 2024, meaning businesses will be well-served to incorporate strategies, such as data governance and website configuration, into their compliance programs, say Steven Stransky at Thompson Hine and Violet Sullivan at Crum & Forster.

  • What The Law Firm Of The Future Will Look Like

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    As the legal landscape shifts, it’s become increasingly clear that the BigLaw business model must adapt in four key ways to remain viable, from fostering workplace flexibility to embracing technology, say Kevin Henderson and Eric Pacifici at SMB Law Group.

  • 4 PR Pointers When Your Case Is In The News

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    Media coverage of new lawsuits exploded last year, demonstrating why defense attorneys should devise a public relations plan that complements their legal strategy, incorporating several objectives to balance ethical obligations and advocacy, say Nathan Burchfiel at Pinkston and Ryan June at Castañeda + Heidelman.

  • Shopify Ruling May Support Personal-Jurisdiction Defenses

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    Litigators, cybersecurity practitioners and web-based entities should all take note of the Ninth Circuit’s recent ruling in Briskin v. Shopify, as it could lend significant support to personal-jurisdiction defenses, but such entities should still consider how their operations might tie them to certain states, say John Gray and Patrick McCormick at Lewis Roca.

  • Series

    Texas Banking Brief: All The Notable Legal Updates In Q4

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    Among the most noteworthy developments in the Texas banking sphere in the last quarter of 2023 were the Texas Department of Banking's extension of the state banking commissioner's authority, a recommendation to implement an updated ransomware self-assessment tool, and ongoing litigation in the state involving the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, says Patrick Hanchey at Alston & Bird.

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