Cybersecurity & Privacy

  • December 11, 2024

    Google Likely Can't Nix Suit Over Collection Of Kids' Data

    A California federal magistrate judge indicated Wednesday that Google likely won't be able to escape a proposed class action alleging YouTube illegally collected children's data from targeted ads, saying a seventh version of the complaint sufficiently alleged that the tech giant "engaged in highly offensive conduct."

  • December 11, 2024

    MDL Judge Rejects Meta's Claim Discovery Is Burdensome

    A California federal magistrate judge overseeing discovery in multidistrict litigation over social-media platforms' allegedly addictive designs on Wednesday rejected Meta Platforms' arguments additional discovery sought by personal-injury plaintiffs is overly burdensome, noting that Meta's discovery production pales in comparison to the millions of documents that Meta has demanded from plaintiff states.

  • December 11, 2024

    Big Tech, 'Censorship' Animate Trump FTC Picks

    President-elect Donald Trump's picks Tuesday to lead and join the Federal Trade Commission show he plans to continue Washington's focus on antitrust enforcement against major technology platforms, while also signaling a potential shift toward more populist Republican concerns alleging that Big Tech censors conservative voices.

  • December 11, 2024

    Dems, GOP Agree That China Cyberspying Is A Problem

    For all their disagreements, Republicans and Democrats were largely singing the same tune Wednesday afternoon at a Senate hearing on the security of the nation's communications networks — that they're worried, and the government needs to get to work on a solution.

  • December 11, 2024

    Montana Justices Uphold Temporary Block On Trans Care Ban

    Montana's highest court delivered a key victory for transgender youths and healthcare practitioners on Wednesday in a decision finding that privacy rights afforded by Montana's constitution favor a halt to the state's ban on gender-affirming care while litigation against it proceeds.

  • December 11, 2024

    Palo Alto Networks Seeks Exit From Investors' 'Vague' Suit

    Cybersecurity company Palo Alto Networks and three of its executives have asked a San Francisco federal judge to toss a consolidated proposed investor class action over allegedly concealed "headwinds," arguing that its investors failed to show they'd known the company would eventually lower certain financial projections.

  • December 11, 2024

    High Court Urged To Take Up Web Scraping Trade Secret Spat

    An insurance agent is asking the U.S. Supreme Court to take up his challenge to an Eleventh Circuit ruling reviving software company Compulife's copyright claim against him, saying the high court should resolve an issue surrounding web scrapes of public information.

  • December 11, 2024

    Ex-Rep. TJ Cox Reaches Plea Deal On Fraud Charges

    Former U.S. Rep. T.J. Cox reached a deal with California federal prosecutors and agreed to plead guilty to two charges and pay up to a $3.5 million fine over allegations he stole from his companies and took illegal campaign contributions, according to a plea agreement filed Wednesday. 

  • December 11, 2024

    Ga. Judge Refuses To Reconsider Toss Of Patient Data Suit

    A Georgia federal judge has refused to reconsider the dismissal of a proposed class action alleging Piedmont Healthcare Inc. unlawfully shared patients' health data with Facebook via the company's tracking pixel tool.

  • December 11, 2024

    Character.AI Encouraged Child To Kill His Parents, Suit Says

    Two minors and their parents sued Character.AI, its founders and Google in Texas federal court, alleging the "dangerous" technology exposed the children to hypersexualized and violent content, with a chatbot character even encouraging one of the kids to kill his parents because they limited his screen time.

  • December 11, 2024

    Legal Ed Cos. Shared Customers' Data, Suit Claims

    Two companies offering continuing legal and professional education content have been hit with a class action in Georgia federal court over allegations that they nonconsensually disclosed customers' identities and video viewing information to Meta Platforms Inc. for its advertisers' use.

  • December 11, 2024

    Law Firm Manager Gets Prison For Bribes In No-Fault Scam

    A Manhattan federal judge on Wednesday hit a former law firm manager with a five-year prison sentence for paying $800,000 in bribes that fueled a $70 million no-fault automobile insurance fraud racket, saying his lawbreaking "was massive in scope."

  • December 11, 2024

    WordPress Parent Must Restore WP Engine's Access

    A California federal judge issued a preliminary injunction on Tuesday restoring WP Engine's access to WordPress while the web hosting company pursues its antitrust allegations against WordPress parent Automattic and CEO Matthew Mullenweg, claiming it was blocked from the site after refusing to pay millions of dollars to Automattic.

  • December 11, 2024

    FBI Director Wray To Resign Before Trump's Inauguration

    FBI Director Christopher Wray said Wednesday he will resign in January at the end of President Joe Biden's term, averting what was expected to be his dismissal when President-elect Donald Trump takes office.

  • December 11, 2024

    CFPB's Chopra Won't Head For Exit Ahead Of Trump's Arrival

    Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Director Rohit Chopra signaled Wednesday that he won't leave his post early unless and until the incoming Trump administration fires him next month, indicating that he plans to keep running the agency in the meantime.

  • December 10, 2024

    US Sanctions Chinese Hacker, Employer For Firewall Exploits

    A Chinese national is facing federal charges and U.S. sanctions, with prosecutors accusing him of scheming to exploit tens of thousands of firewalls, including those the government noted Tuesday protected sensitive systems of companies that run oil rigs and vital infrastructure.

  • December 10, 2024

    3rd Circ. Judge Unsure Subpoena Chills Anti-Abortion Donors

    A Third Circuit panel on Tuesday weighed whether an anti-abortion pregnancy center would suffer irreparable harm absent a court order blocking the enforcement of a subpoena seeking information about its donors, questioning whether donors would be imminently chilled if their names are disclosed to New Jersey investigators.

  • December 10, 2024

    Google Takes Aim At Ad Tech Antitrust Claims In States' Suit

    Google has blasted the lawsuit accusing it of illegally manipulating the advertising market, saying that Texas and the roughly dozen other states behind the litigation are "playing a shell game" in which they serially amend their complaints to "avoid the weaknesses of their antitrust claims."

  • December 10, 2024

    FinCEN Says CTA Still Constitutional In Post-Injunction Alert

    The Financial Crimes Enforcement Network has alerted companies that they do not currently need to file so-called beneficial ownership information with the agency after a federal judge's nationwide preliminary injunction blocking the Corporate Transparency Act, though the bureau maintained that the law calling for such information is constitutional.

  • December 10, 2024

    NC Law Firm, Insurer Drop Phishing Coverage Row

    A law firm specializing in real estate transactions and its cyber insurer told a North Carolina federal court Tuesday they've agreed to settle their dispute over coverage for a phishing scam the firm said caused it to unwittingly wire roughly $647,000 to the hacker's bank account.

  • December 10, 2024

    Trump Taps Ferguson As FTC Chief, Kressin Atty To GOP Seat

    President-elect Donald Trump named current Federal Trade Commission member Andrew N. Ferguson to be its next chair Tuesday night while also picking Kressin Meador Powers LLC partner Mark Meador, a former deputy chief counsel to Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, to round out the FTC as its third Republican member.

  • December 10, 2024

    FCC Cracks Down Again On Failures To Block Robocalls

    The Federal Communications Commission will consider tougher compliance rules to ensure voice service providers take part in efforts to cut robocalls, also saying Tuesday that more than 2,400 providers could face enforcement action for failing to meet existing filing requirements.

  • December 10, 2024

    'Figurehead Plaintiff' Dooms Cert. In Hotel Workers' BIPA Suit

    An Illinois federal judge refused Tuesday to certify a class of hotel workers accusing software provider Unifocus of violating Illinois' landmark biometric privacy law, saying their class representative had become a "forbidden figurehead plaintiff" who didn't see the operative complaint until more than three years into the litigation.

  • December 10, 2024

    Insurer Seeks Exit From Firm's Bid For $2.8M Hack Coverage

    A private equity firm's insurer told a Nebraska federal court it owed no coverage for what the firm said was a $2.83 million loss from a hack, maintaining the event didn't meet its policy's definitions of "loss" or claims and fell under a cyber theft exclusion.

  • December 10, 2024

    Kirkland, Davis Polk Drive Gen Digital's $1B MoneyLion Buy

    Cybersecurity software company Gen Digital Inc., led by Kirkland & Ellis LLP, has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Davis Polk & Wardwell LLP-advised personal finance platform MoneyLion Inc. for about $1 billion, the companies said Tuesday.

Expert Analysis

  • California's AI Safety Bill Veto: The Path Forward

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    California Gov. Gavin Newsom's veto of a bill that sought to impose stringent regulations on advanced artificial intelligence model development has sparked a renewed debate on how best to balance innovation with safety in the rapidly evolving AI landscape, say Bobby Malhotra and Carson Swope at Winston & Strawn.

  • New TCPA Rule Faces Uncertain Future Post-Loper Bright

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    The Federal Communications Commission's new rule aiming to eliminate lead generators' use of unlawful robocalls is now in doubt with the U.S. Supreme Court's Loper Bright decision, and the Eleventh Circuit's Insurance Marketing Coalition v. FCC is poised to be a test case of the agency's ability to enforce the Telephone Consumer Protection Act post-Chevron, say attorneys at Baker McKenzie.

  • A Look At Calif.'s New AI Law For Health Insurers

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    A newly enacted California law prohibits artificial intelligence tools from making medical necessity determinations for healthcare service plans or disability insurers, addressing core questions that have arisen around AI's role in coverage decisions, say attorneys at DLA Piper.

  • To Report Or Not To Report Others' Export Control Violations

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    A recent Bureau of Industry and Security enforcement policy change grants cooperation credit to those that report violations of the Export Administration Regulations committed by others, but the benefits of doing so must be weighed against significant drawbacks, including the costs of preparing and submitting a report, says Megan Lew at Cravath.

  • Can SEC's Consolidated Audit Trail Survive Post-Chevron?

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    The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission is currently in a showdown at the Eleventh Circuit over its authority to maintain a national market system and require that the industry spend billions to maintain its consolidated audit trail, a case that is further complicated by the Loper Bright decision, says Daniel Hawke at Arnold & Porter.

  • State Of The States' AI Legal Ethics Landscape

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    Over the past year, several state bar associations, as well as the American Bar Association, have released guidance on the ethical use of artificial intelligence in legal practice, all of which share overarching themes and some nuanced differences, say Eric Pacifici and Kevin Henderson at SMB Law Group.

  • How BIS' Rule Seeks To Encourage More Voluntary Disclosure

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    Updated incentives, penalties and enforcement resources in the Bureau of Industry and Security's recently published final rule revising the Export Administration Regulations should help companies decide how to implement export control compliance programs and whether to disclose possible violations, say attorneys at Freshfields.

  • 8 Childhood Lessons That Can Help You Be A Better Attorney

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    A new school year is underway, marking a fitting time for attorneys to reflect on some fundamental life lessons from early childhood that offer a framework for problems that no legal textbook can solve, say Chris Gismondi and Chris Campbell at DLA Piper.

  • Navigating Complex Regulatory Terrain Amid State AG Races

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    This year's 10 attorney general elections could usher in a wave of new enforcement priorities and regulatory uncertainty, but companies can stay ahead of the shifts by building strong relationships with AG offices, participating in industry coalitions and more, say Ketan Bhirud and Dustin McDaniel at Cozen O’Connor.

  • Recent Securities Cases Highlight Risks In AI Disclosures

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    Increasing public disclosure about the use and risks of artificial intelligence, and related litigation asserting that such disclosures are false or misleading, suggest that issuers need to exercise great care with respect to how they describe the benefits of AI, say Richard Zelichov and Danny Tobey at DLA Piper.

  • Opinion

    This Election, We Need To Talk About Court Process

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    In recent decades, the U.S. Supreme Court has markedly transformed judicial processes — from summary judgment standards to notice pleadings — which has, in turn, affected individuals’ substantive rights, and we need to consider how the upcoming presidential election may continue this pattern, says Reuben Guttman at Guttman Buschner.

  • Navigating HHS' New Reproductive Healthcare Privacy Rule

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    The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' new final rule regarding protections for the privacy of reproductive health information will require regulated entities to grapple with difficult questions about whether to comply with state law requirements or federal privacy prohibitions, says Christine Chasse at Spencer Fane.

  • Series

    Playing Diplomacy Makes Us Better Lawyers

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    Similar to the practice of law, the rules of Diplomacy — a strategic board game set in pre-World War I Europe — are neither concise nor without ambiguity, and weekly gameplay with our colleagues has revealed the game's practical applications to our work as attorneys, say Jason Osborn and Ben Bevilacqua at Winston & Strawn.

  • Open Questions In Unsettled Geofence Warrant Landscape

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    The Fourth and Fifth Circuits recently reached radically divergent conclusions about the constitutionality of geofence warrants, creating an uncertain landscape in which defendants should assert and preserve the full range of conventional Fourth Amendment challenges, says Charles Fowler at McKool Smith.

  • A Look At 5 States' New Data Privacy Laws

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    With new data privacy laws in Utah, Florida, Texas, Oregon and Montana recently in effect or coming into force this year, state-level enforcement of data privacy creates significant challenges and risks for how businesses interact with employees and consumers, and for companies that provide and use technologies in multiple jurisdictions, say attorneys at Jenner & Block.

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