The U.S. Supreme Court denied a petition to review a case that claimed Facebook allegedly violated privacy and wiretapping laws by tracking users’ internet activity after they exited the social media platform. The ruling rejected questions proposed by an objector to the $90 million settlement in the case relating to the attorney fees and plaintiff service awards.
Utah and Arizona bills requiring age verification online advanced in committee votes this week. Many states are mulling legislation this year focused on protecting kids on certain websites (see 2501170053).
Days ahead of the Jan. 31 deadline for data broker registration, the California Privacy Protection Agency announced that Connecticut-based data broker Key Marketing Advantage (KMA) agreed to pay $55,800 for failing to register and pay a fee in 2024.
Video game companies should prioritize compliance with the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) and other consumer protection laws in the wake of the FTC's Jan. 17 settlement with the makers of videogame Genshin Impact, Stacy Feuer, senior vice president of the Entertainment Software Rating Board's Privacy Certified program, wrote in a blog post Friday.
Online tracking is part of digital life, but businesses are increasingly recognizing that it can harm people when it isn't done responsibly, Stephen Almond, U.K. Information Commissioner's Office regulatory risk executive director, blogged Thursday. The ICO has been "taking decisive action, supporting organisations to make changes" to ensure they can navigate online tracking responsibly while safeguarding people's personal information.
Meta's latest pay-or-consent policy in the EU may be breaching consumer and data protection law as well as the Digital Markets Act, the European Consumer Organisation (BEUC) said Thursday. It contacted the relevant EU enforcement authorities about its concerns.
There are grounds for "intense" collaboration among authorities responsible for enforcing EU digital laws such as the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and AI Act (AIA), privacy lawyer Petruta Pirvan said during a Sypher webinar Wednesday in Bucharest, Romania. Especially in the context of AI systems that process personal data, logic is strong for regulators cooperating, said Pirvan, a member of the European Commission's GPAI code of practice working group.
The European Data Protection Board (EDPB) Friday clarified the use of pseudonymized data for EU General Data Protection Regulation compliance. Comments on the guidelines are due Feb. 28.
The Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC) and Enforce, a unit of the Irish Council for Civil Liberties, filed a complaint Thursday at the FTC alleging that Google sends huge quantities of Americans’ sensitive data to China and other foreign adversaries, EPIC announced in a news release.
The FTC trumpeted two big enforcement actions as part of a flurry of announcements in the days before Monday's inauguration of President-elect Donald Trump. The FTC on Thursday proposed a nonmonetary settlement with GM and OnStar over allegations the companies collected and sold consumers’ location data without proper consent. The commission on Friday announced a settlement of $20 million with the maker of the videogame Genshin Impact over allegations of violating a child privacy law. The FTC also revealed a long-awaited update to children’s online privacy rules Thursday (see 2501160068).