Cybersecurity & Privacy

  • June 18, 2024

    Apple Sanctioned In Siri Privacy Suit For Deleting Recordings

    A California federal judge has sanctioned Apple Inc. in a privacy lawsuit brought by Siri users who claim the voice-activated software records their conversations, finding the tech giant spoiled evidence by deleting key data, but that a jury should determine whether Apple deprived the users of the data intentionally.

  • June 18, 2024

    Noncustomers Cinch Settlement In Citibank Robocall Suit

    Citibank has reached a deal with a class of noncustomers who accused the bank of bombarding them with unauthorized robocalls, according to a notice filed in Arizona federal court, ending six years of litigation alleging Citibank had violated the Telephone Consumer Protection Act.

  • June 18, 2024

    FTC Escalates Probe Into TikTok's Privacy Measures For Kids

    The Federal Trade Commission on Tuesday took the rare step of publicly disclosing its referral to the U.S. Department of Justice of a complaint against TikTok and its parent company over their compliance with a 2019 privacy settlement, saying there's "reason to believe" that the companies are out of step with their pledge to protect children on the platform.

  • June 18, 2024

    Chicago Cubs Will Pay $1.2 Million To End TCPA Suit

    An Illinois federal judge granted final approval Monday to a $1.2 million settlement that resolves litigation accusing the Chicago Cubs of sending persistent marketing text messages that violated the Telephone Consumer Protection Act.

  • June 18, 2024

    Ariz. County Says New Kari Lake Vote Claims Merit Sanctions

    Maricopa County officials are slamming former gubernatorial candidate Kari Lake's bid to unravel a Ninth Circuit decision affirming the toss of her lawsuit over Arizona's voting machines, contending that the "fatally flawed" effort warrants sanctions.

  • June 17, 2024

    Calif. Becomes Last State To Ink Deal Over Blackbaud Breach

    Blackbaud Inc. has agreed to pay $6.75 million to resolve data security claims brought by California's attorney general, who was the only one to sit out a nearly $50 million settlement that the software provider reached last year with every other state over a 2020 ransomware attack that affected thousands of its customers.

  • June 17, 2024

    Judge Cements Decision Clearing Cisco From $2.75B Ruling

    There will be not be a third trial for a cybersecurity startup that has seen its multibillion-dollar patent win turn into nothing at all, a Virginia federal judge has decided, after a second trial found that Cisco wasn't actually infringing its patents.

  • June 17, 2024

    BNSF's $75M BIPA Deal With Truckers Nears Final OK

    A $75 million biometric privacy settlement between BNSF Railway Co. and a class of truck drivers who challenged the railroad's gate-access practices neared final approval Monday, resolving litigation that had been pending in Illinois' state and federal courts.

  • June 17, 2024

    US Surgeon General To Seek Warning Label On Social Media

    U.S. Surgeon General Vivek H. Murthy has called on lawmakers to require social media companies to put warnings on their sites that say young people who use them have more mental health issues, according to an opinion article published on Monday.

  • June 17, 2024

    Hacker Facing Rare, Deadly Cancer Avoids Prison Time

    Despite "vehemently" rejecting defense counsel's arguments seeking a more lenient sentence for a cybersecurity contractor facing up to five years in prison for hacking into a hospital's computer systems, a Georgia federal judge nevertheless handed down a two-year house arrest sentence on Monday, citing the defendant's extremely rare and aggressive form of cancer.

  • June 17, 2024

    9th Circ. Says Facebook 'Face Signatures' Not Subject To BIPA

    The Ninth Circuit sided with Meta Platforms on Monday by declining to revive an Illinois resident's proposed class action accusing Facebook of breaking the state's Biometric Information Privacy Act, ruling that the "face signature" at issue isn't protected by the law because it cannot be used to identify someone.

  • June 17, 2024

    Google Says Texas Took Opposing Positions On Key Law

    Google told a Texas federal court the state attorney general's office made arguments in the case accusing the tech giant of monopolizing display advertising technology that directly contradict arguments the state is making in a case challenging the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act.

  • June 17, 2024

    Consulting Firms To Pay $11.3M Over Rent Help Site Breach

    A consulting firm and its subcontractor have agreed to pay $11.3 million to resolve a False Claims Act suit alleging that they allowed the personal data of low-income New Yorkers to be compromised while operating a pandemic-era rental assistance program website.

  • June 14, 2024

    Meta Halts AI Tech Debut In EU After Regulatory Backlash

    Meta Platforms Inc. said Friday that it was putting on hold plans to expand its artificial intelligence offerings to the European market after the Irish privacy regulator raised concerns about the company's efforts to use public content posted on Facebook and Instagram to fuel these models.

  • June 14, 2024

    FCC Settles Probe Into Data Breach At Liberty Latin America

    Liberty Latin America has been slapped with a $100,000 fine for failing to tell the Federal Communications Commission about a data breach that exposed data before the telecom took control of the company.

  • June 14, 2024

    France Offers $750M For Atos' Cyber, Data Assets

    Information technology firm Atos SE said Friday that it has received a nonbinding offer from the French government to buy certain big data and cybersecurity operations at an enterprise value of €700 million ($750 million).

  • June 14, 2024

    X Dodges Porn Filter BIPA Suit For Now

    An Illinois federal judge has thrown out a proposed class action accusing X Corp. of violating the state's biometric privacy law through its use of software to police pornographic images, saying the lead plaintiff failed to allege that the tool can be used to identify specific individuals. 

  • June 14, 2024

    Feds Lob New Charges Over $430M Dark Web Market

    Two owners of an online marketplace known as Empire Market were hit Thursday with additional charges alleging that over a period of years they allowed users worldwide to buy and sell $430 million worth of illegal goods and services.

  • June 14, 2024

    Political Speech Groups Challenge NJ Judicial Privacy Case

    Two voting-integrity groups moved Friday to dismiss federal claims brought against them under New Jersey's Daniel's Law on the grounds that their business of publishing voter registration information is political speech protected by the First Amendment and federal voting rights laws.

  • June 13, 2024

    CFPB's Chopra Sees 'Pressing Need' For Data Protections

    Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Director Rohit Chopra zeroed in on data usage and privacy during a Thursday hearing with House lawmakers, calling for sharper limits on what financial firms can do with customer data while also seeking to assuage concerns about his agency's plans for data sharing and data broker rules.

  • June 13, 2024

    Vt. Gov. Blocks 'Outlier' Data Privacy Bill With Lawsuit Trigger

    Vermont's governor on Thursday vetoed a legislative proposal that would have given consumers not only new data privacy rights but also the rare opportunity to sue large businesses for certain violations, expressing concerns with the significant "risks" created by the "outlier" measure and urging the Legislature to instead embrace the model adopted by Connecticut and more than a dozen other states.

  • June 13, 2024

    Zoom's $150M Investor Deal Nears OK, But $50K Award Iffy

    A California federal judge indicated Thursday that he'll preliminarily approve Zoom's $150 million deal to end claims it misled investors by stating that it offered end-to-end encryption on its videoconferencing software, but told the plaintiffs' lawyers, "You're going to have to persuade me" to award the lead plaintiff $50,000.

  • June 13, 2024

    KeyBank Borrowers' $6M Data Breach Deal Gets Initial OK

    A Georgia federal judge on Thursday granted preliminary approval to a $6 million settlement deal resolving a class suit over data breaches at KeyBank and other regional lenders and a technology contractor despite objections from a subclass of borrowers — who had previously settled their claims — saying the deal was inequitable.

  • June 13, 2024

    Clearview AI Makes 'Unique' BIPA Deal Tied To Future Value

    Plaintiffs in multidistrict litigation targeting Clearview AI's allegedly unlawful practice of "scraping" internet photos to collect biometric facial data told an Illinois federal judge on Wednesday they have struck a "unique" deal giving the class a stake in the company's future growth.

  • June 13, 2024

    Judge Asks If Amazon Is Doomed To Stay In Wiretapping Suit

    A Washington federal judge questioned Thursday if Amazon Web Services Inc.'s terms of use with Capital One for call center technology "doom" the cloud-computing giant's attempt to avoid a proposed class action accusing it of violating California's wiretapping law.

Expert Analysis

  • Legal Issues To Watch As Deepfake Voices Proliferate

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    With increasingly sophisticated and accessible voice-cloning technology raising social, ethical and legal questions, particularly in the entertainment industry and politics, further legislative intervention and court proceedings seem very likely, say Shruti Chopra and Paul Joseph at Linklaters.

  • AI And Trade Controls: A Guide To Expanding Restrictions

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    With restrictions on trade related to commodities, software and technology integral to high-performing artificial intelligence capabilities expected to expand — particularly between the U.S. and China — companies must carefully consider the export classification of the items they design, produce or procure, say attorneys at Hogan Lovells.

  • Car Apps, Abuse Survivor Safety And The FCC: Key Questions

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    A recent request for comment from the Federal Communications Commission, concerning how to protect the privacy of domestic violence survivors who use connected car services, raises key questions, including whether the FCC has the legal authority to limit access to a vehicle's connected features to survivors only, say attorneys at Davis Wright.

  • Opinion

    'Natural Person' Or Not, AI-Made IP Deserves Protection

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    The entire legal edifice rests on a determination that an artificial system is not a so-called natural person, and although this may appear to be straightforward on its face, rapid advances in technology may soon force us to revisit our understanding of a natural person, says Manav Das at McDonnell Boehnen.

  • Lessons On Challenging Class Plaintiffs' Expert Testimony

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    In class actions seeking damages, plaintiffs are increasingly using expert opinions to establish predominance, but several recent rulings from California federal courts shed light on how defendants can respond, say Jennifer Romano and Raija Horstman at Crowell & Moring.

  • Exploring An Alternative Model Of Litigation Finance

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    A new model of litigation finance, most aptly described as insurance-backed litigation funding, differs from traditional funding in two key ways, and the process of securing it involves three primary steps, say Bob Koneck, Christopher Le Neve Foster and Richard Butters at Atlantic Global Risk LLC.

  • A GC's Guide To Multijurisdictional Regulatory Compliance

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    Overlapping cybersecurity regulation has created an increasingly fragmented regulatory landscape with elevated oversight for organizations across the globe, but general counsel can help develop a best-in-class approach to manage these complexities by building a compliance strategy holistically, say David Dunn and Meredith Griffanti at FTI Consulting.

  • Series

    Teaching Yoga Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    Being a yoga instructor has helped me develop my confidence and authenticity, as well as stress management and people skills — all of which have crossed over into my career as an attorney, says Laura Gongaware at Clyde & Co.

  • A Vision For Economic Clerkships In The Legal System

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    As courts handle increasingly complex damages analyses involving vast amounts of data, an economic clerkship program — integrating early-career economists into the judicial system — could improve legal outcomes and provide essential training to clerks, say Mona Birjandi at Data for Decisions and Matt Farber at Secretariat.

  • Examining Illinois Genetic Privacy Law Amid Deluge Of Claims

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    After a federal court certified an Illinois Genetic Information Privacy Act class action in August, claims under the law have skyrocketed, so employers, insurers and others that collect health and genetic information should ensure compliance with the act to limit litigation risk, say attorneys at Squire Patton.

  • 8 Legal Issues Influencing Investors In The Creator Economy

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    The rapidly expanding digital creator economy — funding for which more than doubled in the U.S. in the first quarter — comes with its own set of unique legal issues investors must carefully consider before diving in, say Louis Lehot and Alan Pate at Foley & Lardner.

  • Action Steps To Address New Restrictions On Outbound Data

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    Companies should immediately assess all their data-based operations so they can consider strategies to effectively mitigate new compliance risks brought on by recently implemented transaction restrictions, including a Justice Department proposal and landmark data legislation, say attorneys at Wiley.

  • E-Discovery Quarterly: Recent Rulings On Text Message Data

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    Electronically stored information on cellphones, and in particular text messages, can present unique litigation challenges, and recent court decisions demonstrate that counsel must carefully balance what data should be preserved, collected, reviewed and produced, say attorneys at Sidley.

  • CFPB Reality Check: Video Game Cash Is Still Money

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    The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's recent report examining payments within online video games indicates that financial services offered within the game marketplace are quickly evolving to the point where they are indistinguishable from traditional financial services subject to regulation, say attorneys at Sheppard Mullin.

  • Keeping Up With Class Actions: A New Era Of Higher Stakes

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    Corporate defendants saw unprecedented settlement numbers across all areas of class action litigation in 2022 and 2023, and this year has kept pace so far, with three settlements that stand out for the nature of the claims and for their high dollar amounts, says Gerald Maatman at Duane Morris.

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