Privacy & Information Security Law Blog

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton recently launched investigations into Character.AI and 14 other technology companies on allegations of failure to comply with the safety and privacy requirements of the Securing Children Online through Parental Empowerment Act and the Texas Data Privacy and Security Act.

The Colorado Attorney General announced the adoption of the draft amendments on December 5, 2024, and the adopted rules were filed with the Secretary of State and the Office of Legislative Legal Services on December 17, 2024. The amendments underwent minor clarifying changes prior to the Department of Law hearing, and in response to comments and testimony received during the public comment period.

The telehealth and prescription drug discount provider, GoodRx, recently agreed to pay $25 million to settle class action claims originating from the company’s unauthorized disclosure of consumers’ personal health information, according to recent filings with the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California.

As reported on the Hunton Employment & Labor Perspectives blog, on October 24, 2024, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (“CFPB”) issued a policy statement (known as a Circular) to explain the link between the Fair Credit Reporting Act (“FCRA”) and employers’ growing use of artificial intelligence (“AI”) to evaluate, rank and score applicants and employees. Employers should take note that the FCRA does not only apply to criminal history or credit reports. As the use of advanced data analysis and AI rise, employers should ensure that they are not running afoul of the FCRA’s requirements.

On October 24, 2024, the White House released a memorandum implementing Executive Order 14110 on national security and responsible AI.

The U.S. Government Accountability Office has launched an investigation into how retirement plan providers use data collected from 401k plan participants to engage in cross-selling of financial products.

On October 22, 2024, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau finalized a rule concerning the portability of consumers’ personal financial data.

On October 16, 2024, the Federal Trade Commission issued a final Click-to-Cancel Rule, also known as the Negative Option Rule, updating its existing regulatory scheme that requires sellers to make it as easy for consumers to cancel their subscriptions and memberships as it is to sign up in the first place. 

On October 3, 2024, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton announced a lawsuit against TikTok for operating its platform in violation of the Texas Secure Children Online through Parental Empowerment Act.

On October 9, 2024, both the Federal Trade Commission and a coalition of 50 state attorneys general issued announcements that they had reached settlement agreements with Marriott International, Inc. and its subsidiary Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide LLC over a multi-year series of data breaches impacting hundreds of millions of individuals.

On September 30, 2024, the Federal Communications Commission announced that T-Mobile has entered into an agreement to settle multiple data protection and cybersecurity investigations stemming from data breaches in 2021, 2022 and 2023.

In August 2024, the Guangzhou Internet Court in China published its final decision in the case No. (2022) Yue 0192 Minchu 6486 regarding the cross-border transfer of personal information under the Personal Information Protection Law (“PIPL”), which was originally issued on September 8, 2023. It is the first case explaining the reliance on necessity for performance of contract in cross-border data transfer activities.

On September 24, 2024, a federal district court held that New York City’s Customer Data Law violates the First Amendment.

On September 19, 2024, the Federal Trade Commission announced the publication of a staff report entitled, A Look Behind the Screens: Examining the Data Practices of Social Media and Video Streaming Services. The Report documents the data collection and use practices of major social media and video streaming services and provides recommendations for better protecting users’ data and privacy, with a particular focus on children and teens.

On September 4, 2024, the California Privacy Protection Agency issued an Enforcement Advisory on Avoiding Dark Patterns: Clear and Understandable Language, Symmetry in Choice.

On August 29, 2024, the California State Assembly passed California bill AB-1949, following the bill’s passage in the California State Senate. If enacted, AB-1949 would amend the California Consumer Privacy Act (as amended by the California Privacy Rights Act) to significantly expand privacy protections concerning the personal information of consumers under the age of 18.

On August 16, 2024, a Ninth Circuit panel partially upheld an injunction halting implementation of the California Age-Appropriate Design Code Act (the “Act”). In particular, the Ninth Circuit affirmed the district court’s ruling that NetChoice, a technology trade group, was likely to succeed in showing that the Act’s data protection impact assessment (“DPIA”) requirements violate the First Amendment. Under the DPIA requirements, covered businesses would have been required to identify material risks to children under the age of 18, document and mitigate those risks before such children access an online service, product or feature, and provide the DPIA to the California Attorney General upon written request.

On August 30, 2024, the Federal Trade Commission announced a proposed settlement with Verkada, a security camera firm, in connection with alleged data security failures and CAN-SPAM Act violations. Under the proposed order, Verkada will be required to implement a comprehensive information security program and pay a $2.95 million monetary penalty.

On August 28, 2024, the FCC announced that it signed a Memorandum of Understanding on Cooperation in the Enforcement of Laws Protecting Personal Information in the Private Sector with the Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada.

On July 30, 2024, New York Attorney General Letitia James announced the Office of the AG’s publication of two privacy guides, one for businesses and one for consumers, both focused on the use of website tracking technologies.

On July 5, 2024, the California Privacy Protection Agency  issued a set of proposed regulations to implement the CA Delete Act, a law that imposes requirements on data brokers and grants consumers rights designed to facilitate control over their personal information. 

On July 30, 2024, Texas AG Ken Paxton announced that Meta agreed to pay $1.4 billion to settle a lawsuit over allegations that Meta processed facial geometry data of Texas residents in violation of Texas law, including the Texas Capture or Use of Biometric Identifier Act (“CUBI”).

On July 23, 2024, the Federal Trade Commission announced that it had launched a study of eight companies’ “surveillance pricing” practices. According to the FTC, “the orders are aimed at helping the FTC better understand the opaque market for products by third-party intermediaries that claim to use advanced algorithms, artificial intelligence and other technologies, along with personal information about consumers—such as their location, demographics, credit history, and browsing or shopping history—to categorize individuals and set a targeted price for a product or service.”

Earlier this month, the Federal Trade Commission, International Consumer Protection and Enforcement Network and Global Privacy Enforcement Network announced the results of a comprehensive review regarding the use of “dark patterns.”

On July 9, 2024, the Federal Trade Commission issued a proposed order that banned NGL Labs, LLC, and two of its co-founders from offering an anonymous messaging app called “NGL: ask me anything” to children under the age of 18.

On June 26, 2024, the California Privacy Protection Agency (“CPPA” or the “Agency”) held a virtual preliminary stakeholder session regarding a data broker accessible deletion mechanism.

On June 29, 2024, Rhode Island enacted the Rhode Island Data Transparency and Privacy Protection Act after Governor Daniel McKee transmitted the act back to the legislature without signature. The RIDTPPA will take effect on January 1, 2026.

The Texas Attorney General’s Office joined the recent swell of regulatory and judicial scrutiny into privacy issues related to connected cars, driving data and telematics, launching an investigation on the data practices of several car manufacturers. 

On May 24, 2024, Governor Tim Walz signed H.F. 4757 into law, enacting the Minnesota Consumer Data Privacy Act. The MNCDPA will take effect on July 31, 2025. 

On May 10, 2024, the Vermont legislature passed HB 121, which was delivered to Governor Phil Scott for signature. HB 121 will enact the Vermont Data Privacy Act, the Vermont Data Broker Security Breach Notice Act and the Vermont Age-Appropriate Design Code.

The Maryland legislature recently passed the Maryland Online Data Privacy Act of 2024 (“MODPA”), which was delivered to Governor Wes Moore for signature and, if enacted, will impose robust requirements with respect to data minimization, the protection of sensitive data, and the processing and sale of minors’ data.

On April 7, 2024, U.S. Sen. Maria Cantwell (D-WA) and U.S. Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-WA) released a discussion draft of the latest federal privacy proposal, known as American Privacy Rights Act (“APRA” or the “Act”). The APRA builds upon the American Data Privacy and Protection Act (“ADPPA”), which was introduced as H.R. 8152 in the 117th Congress and advanced out of the House Energy and Commerce Committee but did not become law. As the latest iteration of a federal privacy proposal, the APRA signals that some members of Congress continue to seek to create a federal standard in the wake of—and in spite of—the ever-growing patchwork of state privacy laws.

The Connecticut Attorney General’s Office (“OAG”) has released a Report on the status of Connecticut’s Data Privacy Act (“CTDPA”), which took effect on July 1, 2023. The Report covers complaints, inquiries, and early enforcement activities under the CTDPA.

On March 27, 2024, the Kentucky legislature passed a comprehensive data privacy bill, which was delivered to the Governor for signature.  If H.B. 15 is enacted, Kentucky will join the growing list of states with comprehensive data privacy laws. 

On March 25, 2024, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis signed into law a bill prohibiting minors under the age of 14 from having accounts on social media platforms.

On March 1, 2024, the Virginia legislature passed S.B. 361 (the “Bill”), which amends the Virginia Consumer Data Protection Act to introduce new protections for children’s privacy. If signed by the Virginia Governor, the new children’s privacy protections will go into effect on January 1, 2025.

After potential warning signs spanning several years, on March 14, 2024, the Federal Trade Commission brought an enforcement action against two entities selling virus protection software to consumers via online and telemarketing sales. According to the FTC’s complaint, for several years the entities, Restoro Cyprus Limited and Reimage Cyprus Limited, received excessive chargebacks on purchases, numerous consumer complaints made directly to the entities, and various indirect consumer complaints made to vendors, telecoms service providers and others. 

On March 8, 2024, the Centre for Information Policy Leadership at Hunton Andrews Kurth (“CIPL”) filed its response to the Federal Trade Commission’s notice of proposed rulemaking (“NPRM”), which addresses amendments to the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Rule (“COPPA Rule”).

Bloomberg Law reported that the Federal Communications Commission adopted rules creating a voluntary cybersecurity labeling program for wireless consumer Internet of Things products, as well as a further notice of proposed rulemaking that seeks comments addressing additional disclosure requirements for program participants with respect to national security.

Last week, Utah Governor Spencer J. Cox signed three privacy-related bills into law. The bills are focused on, respectively, protection of motor vehicle consumer data, regulations on social media companies with respect to minors, and access to protected health information by third parties. The Utah legislature appears to be focused on data-related legislation this session, as Governor Cox signed two other bills related to AI into law last week as well.

On March 8, 2024, the California Privacy Protection Agency (“CPPA”) Board discussed and voted 3-2 in favor of further edits to revised draft regulations regarding risk assessments and automated decisionmaking technology (“ADMT”), which were released in February 2024, but did not initiate the formal rulemaking process for these regulations, which is anticipated to begin in July 2024.

On March 6, 2024, Governor Chris Sununu signed into law SB 255, making New Hampshire the 15th state with a comprehensive privacy law.

The Federal Trade Commission held its eighth annual privacy conference, PrivacyCon, on March 6, 2024. The goal of PrivacyCon is to assemble researchers, academics, industry representatives, consumer advocates and government regulators to consider and discuss cutting-edge research and trends related to consumer privacy and data security. This year’s conference consisted of remarks by FTC Commissioners Lina Khan, Alvaro Bedoya and Rebecca Kelly Slaughter, and a total of seven panels including “Economics”, “Privacy Enhancing Technologies,” “Artificial ...

On February 12, 2024, California bill AB-1949 was referred to the Assembly Committee on Privacy and Consumer Protection. The bill would amend the California Consumer Privacy Act (as amended by the California Privacy Rights Act) (the “CCPA”) to significantly expand businesses’ obligations with respect to the personal information of consumers under the age of 18.

On February 21, 2024, the California Attorney General announced that it had reached a settlement resolving an enforcement action under the California Consumer Privacy Act (“CCPA”) and the California Online Privacy Protection Act (“CalOPPA”) brought against online food delivery company  DoorDash, Inc. (the “Company”). This is the AG’s second CCPA enforcement settlement, following the agency’s settlement with Sephora.

Recent developments in the Shanghai Pilot Free Trade Zone to facilitate cross-border data transfers are expected to provide greater flexibility in exporting data from China, which has been stymied by the Cyberspace Administration of China (“CAC”)’s strict cross-border data transfer regulations proposed in December 2023. In recent years, the legal framework and practical enforcement for cross-border data transfers in China have undergone significant developments, especially with respect to the CAC’s cross-border data transfer security reviews and standard contractual clauses. The lack of clarity around the CAC’s strict rules for security assessment reviews appears to have caused significant delays in the approval process for cross-border data transfers and concern among international companies who regularly transfer data outside of China. However, it appears that the Shanghai government is likely to permit international companies to transfer data offshore by leveraging its sprawling free trade zones. Shanghai, for example, has recently unveiled new measures aimed at accelerating cross-border data transfers.

On February 9, 2024, a California state court of appeal ruled in favor of the California Privacy Protection Agency (“CPPA”) and vacated the lower court order postponing enforcement of the CPPA’s final regulations under the California Consumer Privacy Act.

On February 8, 2024, the Federal Communications Commission declared that calls using AI- generated, cloned voices fall under the category of “artificial or prerecorded voice” within the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (“TCPA”) and therefore are generally prohibited without prior express consent, effective immediately. Callers must obtain prior express consent from the recipient before making a call using an artificial or prerecorded voice, absent an applicable statutory exemption or emergency.

Hunton Andrews Kurth is hosting a webinar discussing the Federal Trade Commission’s proposed revisions to the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Rule (i.e., the COPPA Rule) on February 20, 2024, at 12:00 p.m. (ET). Hunton partners Phyllis Marcus and Lisa Sotto will discuss the FTC’s recent proposal to strengthen federal protections for children’s privacy and the implications of the new changes, if enacted, for organizations. 

On February 1, 2024, the Federal Trade Commission announced a proposed settlement with Blackbaud Inc. (“Blackbaud”) in connection with alleged security failures that resulted in a breach of the company’s network and access to the personal data of millions of consumers. As part of the settlement, Blackbaud will be required to comply with a variety of obligations, including deleting personal data that the company does not have a need to retain.

On February 6, 2024, the UK government published a response to the consultation on its AI Regulation White Paper, which the UK government originally published in March 2023. The White Paper set forth the UK government’s “flexible” approach to regulating AI through five cross-sectoral principles for the UK’s existing regulators to interpret and apply within their remits (read further details on the White Paper). A 12-week consultation on the White Paper was then held and this response summarizes the feedback and proposed next steps.

On January 12, 2024, the New York State Department of Financial Services (“NYDFS”) announced a consent order with virtual currency company Genesis Global Trading, Inc. (“Genesis”) for “significant” failings in Genesis’ Anti-Money Laundering and cybersecurity compliance frameworks. According to the NYDFS, Genesis’ failure to comply with the NYDFS’ virtual currency and cybersecurity regulations left the company vulnerable to cybersecurity risks and related unlawful activity. 

On January 18, 2024, the Federal Trade Commission announced a proposed order against geolocation data broker InMarket Media (“InMarket”), barring the company from selling or licensing precise location data. According to the FTC’s charges, InMarket failed to obtain informed consent from users of applications developed by the company and its third-party partners.  

On January 16, 2024, Governor Phil Murphy signed into law Bill 332, making New Jersey the 14^th state with a comprehensive state privacy law. The law is set to take effect in January 2025.

Applicability

The law will apply to controllers that conduct business in New Jersey or produce products or services that are targeted to New Jersey residents, and that during a calendar year meet any of the following criteria: (1) control or process the personal data of at least 100,000 New Jersey consumers (notably excluding personal data processed solely for the purpose of completing a payment transaction); or (2) control or process the personal data of at least 25,000 New Jersey consumers and derive revenue, or receive a discount on the price of any goods or services, from the “sale” of personal data. In line with the CCPA and other state privacy laws, the New Jersey law broadly defines “sale” as the disclosure of personal data to a third party for “monetary or other valuable consideration.”

On January 9, 2024, in its first settlement with a data broker concerning the collection and sale of sensitive location information, the Federal Trade Commission announced a proposed order against data broker X-Mode Social, Inc. and its successor Outlogic, LLC (“X-Mode”) for unfair and deceptive acts or practices in violation of Section 5 of the FTC Act.

On January 9, 2024, the Federal Trade Commission published a blog post reminding artificial intelligence (“AI”) “model-as-a-service” companies to uphold the privacy commitments they make to customers, including promises made in Terms of Service agreements, promotional materials and online marketplaces.  

On December 7, 2023, the Court of Justice of the European Union (“CJEU”) ruled that credit scoring constitutes automated decision-making, which is prohibited under Article 22 of the EU General Data Protection Regulation (“GDPR”) unless certain conditions are met. In a case stemming from consumer complaints against German credit bureau SCHUFA, the CJEU found that the company’s reliance on fully automated processes to calculate creditworthiness and extend credit constitutes automated decision-making which produces a legal or similarly significant effect within the meaning of Article 22 of the GDPR.

On November 22, 2023, the Artificial Intelligence (Regulation) Bill was introduced into the UK Parliament’s House of Lords. The purpose of the Bill is to make provision for the regulation of AI and for connected purposes. 

On November 27, 2023, the California Privacy Protection Agency (“CPPA”) published its draft regulations on automated decisionmaking technology (“ADMT”). The regulations propose a broad definition for ADMT that includes “any system, software, or process—including one derived from machine-learning, statistics, or other data-processing or artificial intelligence—that processes personal information and uses computation as whole or part of a system to make or execute a decision or facilitate human decisionmaking.” ADMT also would include profiling, which would mean the “automated processing of personal information to evaluate certain personal aspects relating to a natural person and in particular to analyze or predict aspects concerning that natural person’s performance at work, economic situation, health, personal preferences, interests, reliability, behavior, location, or movements.”

On November 16, 2023, the Federal Trade Commission released a proposed order in connection with a complaint filed in August of 2020 against Global Tel*Link Corp. (“GTL”) and its subsidiaries, Telmate and TouchPay, which offers communication and payment services for incarcerated individuals. The complaint centered around a security breach where a technician for a vendor of GTL placed unencrypted, personally identifiable information in a test environment to test a new search and storage software. The test environment allegedly was accessible on the internet without password protections which permitted an unauthorized actor to access and exfiltrate the data between August 11-13, 2020. Though GTL restricted access to the test environment, GTL allegedly failed to notify its customers for roughly nine months, while also falsely representing to prospective customers that it had never experienced a security breach.

On October 30, 2023, the Federal Trade Commission announced that it is sending nearly $100 million in refunds to consumers who were harmed as a result of internet phone service provider Vonage’s alleged use of dark patterns and other obstacles that made it difficult for users to cancel their service.

On November 8, 2023, the Network Advertising Initiative (“NAI”) issued its best practices guidance (“Guidance”), which advocates for the use of demographic data for health advertising, rather than sensitive health information.

On October 30, 2023, U.S. President Biden issued an Executive Order on Safe, Secure, and Trustworthy Artificial Intelligence. It marks the Biden Administration’s most comprehensive action on artificial intelligence policy, building upon the Administration’s Blueprint for an AI Bill of Rights (issued in October 2022) and its announcement (in July 2023) of securing voluntary commitments from 15 leading AI companies to manage AI risks.

On October 19, 2023, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (“CFPB”) proposed a new rule that would provide consumers with more control over their financial information and impose certain requirements on the following types of entities:

On October 27, 2023, the Federal Trade Commission announced that it has approved an amendment to the Safeguards Rule that would require non-banking institutions to report certain data breaches to the FTC. The FTC’s Safeguards Rule currently requires certain types of non-banking financial institutions, such as mortgage brokers, motor vehicle dealers, and payday lenders, to develop, implement and maintain a comprehensive security program to keep their customers’ information safe. The amendment will require such financial institutions to notify the FTC as soon as possible, and no later than 30 days after discovery, of a security breach involving the unauthorized acquisition of unencrypted customer  information of at least 500 consumers. The notice to the FTC will need to include certain information about the event, such as the number of consumers affected or potentially affected.

On October 8, 2023 and October 10, 2023, California Governor Gavin Newsom signed A.B. 947, A.B. 1194, S.B. 362 and S.B. 244 into law. A.B. 947 amends the California Consumer Privacy Act of 2018’s (“CCPA”) definition of “sensitive personal information” to include personal information that reveals a consumer’s “citizenship or immigration status,” while A.B. 1194 amends the CCPA to require a business to comply with the obligations imposed by the CCPA if the personal information collected by the business contains information related to accessing, procuring or searching for services regarding contraception, pregnancy care and perinatal care, including, but not limited to, abortion services, unless the personal information is used for a specified business purposes as defined by the CCPA, is only retained in aggregated and deidentified form and is not sold or shared.

On October 15, 2023, a proposal was published on Utah’s social media regulation law, S.B. 152, which was signed earlier this year.

On October 18, 2023, the Centre for Information Policy Leadership (“CIPL”) at Hunton Andrews Kurth published an opinion piece in the leading European policy outlet, Euractiv, titled “The Time is Now: Why modernising transatlantic cooperation on cross-border law enforcement access to electronic evidence should be a priority.”

The piece argues that at a time of an increased threat of cybercrime, digital fraud, disinformation, and other illicit activities online, we need a holistic discussion between law enforcement, policymakers and privacy communities to balance societal interests and individual rights.

On September 28, 2023, the Cyberspace Administration of China (“CAC”) released the “Provisions on Regulating and Facilitating Cross-Border Data Flows” for public comment (the “Proposal”). The deadline for public comment on the Proposal was October 15, 2023.

On October 5, 2023, Blackbaud Inc., a software provider for the philanthropy, healthcare, and education sectors, has resolved claims that the District of Columbia and 49 U.S. states raised. The claims stem from a ransomware attack that impacted Blackbaud in 2020. The company was affected by a ransomware attack that exposed user information to unauthorized third parties. The breach not only impacted approximately 13,000 Blackbaud customers, but the customers’ own clients and donors as well.

On  September 29, 2023, the Centre for Information Policy Leadership at Hunton Andrews Kurth (“CIPL”) released a new paper on its Ten Recommendations for Global AI Regulation. The paper is part of CIPL’s Accountable AI project and follows several earlier contributions including Artificial Intelligence and Data Protection in Tension (October 2018), Hard Issues and Practical Solutions (February 2020), and Artificial Intelligence and Data Protection: How the GDPR Regulates AI (March 2020).

On September 19, 2023, the Director of the Federal Trade Commission Bureau of Consumer Protection, Samuel Levine, delivered remarks that provided insight into the FTC’s ongoing strategy for regulating artificial intelligence (“AI”) during the National Advertising Division’s annual conference. Levine emphasized that the FTC is taking a more proactive approach to protect consumers from the harmful uses of AI, while ensuring the market remains fair, open, and competitive. Levine expressed the belief that self-regulation is not sufficient to address the regulation of ...

On September 14, 2023, the Federal Trade Commission issued a press release announcing the publication of a staff paper about blurred advertising. In the staff paper, the FTC describes blurred advertising as the blending of ads with digital media content (e.g., displaying ads within online games and virtual reality worlds). The FTC warns that these ads are not readily identifiable as marketing by consumers and pose a significant threat to young children who do not have the skills or cognitive defenses to identify and understand this type of advertising. The FTC recommends that ...

On July 5, 2023, Ohio Governor, Mike DeWine, signed into law House Bill 33, which includes the Social Media Parental Notification Act (“Act”).

On September 14, 2023, California Attorney General Rob Bonta announced a $93 million settlement with Google, LLC (“Google”) resolving alleged violations of California’s false advertising law and unfair competition law.

On August 8, 2023, the Massachusetts Gaming Commission approved 205 CMR 257: Sports Wagering Data Privacy, a set of regulations designed to create new rights and obligations with respect to sports betting operators’ use of patrons’ Confidential Information or Personally Identifiable Information. The regulations took effect on September 1, 2023.

On September 14, 2023, the California legislature passed S.B. 362 (“Act”), a bill that would impose new requirements on data brokers and grant residents new rights designed to facilitate control over their personal data. S.B. 362 is now awaiting signature by California Governor Gavin Newsom. The Act aims to close a loophole in the California Consumer Privacy Act (“CCPA”) that allows consumers to request that data brokers delete personal information obtained directly from the consumer, but does not require data brokers to delete personal information obtained from other sources. 

On September 15, 2023, the Federal Trade Commission and the Department of Health and Human Services (“HHS”) published an updated version of the two agencies’ joint publication, entitled “Collecting, Using, or Sharing Consumer Health Information? Look to HIPAA, the FTC Act, and the Health Breach Notification Rule.” 

On September 18, 2023, Judge Beth Labson Freeman of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California granted NetChoice’s request for preliminary injunction in NetChoice v. Bonta, finding that NetChoice is likely to succeed on its claim that the California Age-Appropriate Design Code (“CA AADC”) violates the First Amendment. Specifically, the Court found that, as a speech restriction, the CA AADC would likely fail both strict scrutiny and a lesser standard of scrutiny. The preliminary injunction blocks the CA AADC from going into effect until the case is ...

On August 31, 2023, NetChoice, a national trade association of large online businesses, filed supplemental briefing in its challenge to the California Age-Appropriate Design Code (“CA AADC”). The success or failure of NetChoice’s lawsuit will determine whether companies need to be CA AADC-compliant on July 1, 2024 when the law is anticipated to take effect.

On September 7, 2023, Lina M. Khan, Chair of the Federal Trade Commission, announced that the FTC will hold an open meeting virtually at 11 am ET on Thursday, September 14, 2023.  The agenda of the open meeting includes a vote by the FTC on whether to release a staff perspective and recommendations on the blurring of advertising and content on digital media and its effects on children and teens.

On August 29, 2023, the California Privacy Protection Agency (“CPPA”) Board issued draft regulations on Risk Assessment and Cybersecurity Audit (the “Draft Regulations”). The CPPA Board will discuss the Draft Regulations during a public meeting on September 8, 2023.

On August 14, 2023, the Federal Trade Commission announced a proposed order against Experian Consumer Services (“Experian”) for failure to comply with the federal CAN-SPAM Act.  The complaint alleges that Experian sent marketing emails that did not provide an unsubscribe opportunity to consumers who had signed up for Experian’s credit monitoring services. The CAN-SPAM Act requires businesses to, in relevant part, clearly and conspicuously display a return email address or Internet-based mechanism that allows consumers to unsubscribe from future marketing emails. While the Experian emails contained a notice stating that the messages related to the consumer’s Experian account (which would make them “transactional” or “relationship” messages under the CAN-SPAM Act, and therefore exempt from the unsubscribe requirement), the complaint alleged that, in actuality, the emails contained only marketing material.

On June 30, 2023, the Delaware House of Representatives passed the Delaware Personal Data Privacy Act (H.B. 154) (the “DPDPA”), a day after the Delaware Senate passed the legislation. The DPDPA heads to Governor John Carney for a final signature. This could make Delaware the 13th U.S. state to enact comprehensive privacy legislation.

On July 14, 2023, California Attorney General Rob Bonta (“California AG”) announced a new enforcement sweep aimed at ensuring that companies comply with the California Consumer Privacy Act of 2018 (“CCPA”) with respect to the personal information of employees and job applicants. The exemption for HR-related data under the CCPA expired on January 1, 2023, when the amendments to the CCPA made by the California Privacy Rights Act of 2020 became operative.

On June 22, 2023, the Oregon House of Representatives passed the Oregon Consumer Privacy Act (S.B. 619) (the “OCPA”), which was previously passed by the Oregon Senate on June 20, 2023. The OCPA has been sent to the Oregon governor’s desk for signature. If signed, the OCPA would make Oregon the 12th state to have enacted comprehensive privacy legislation.

On April 27, 2023, Washington adopted the My Health My Data Act (“WMHMDA”). Most of the law’s provisions are not effective until March 31, 2024 (or June 30, 2024 for small businesses). The law’s geofencing prohibition, however, is set to take effect on July 23, 2023. The prohibition is part of stringent requirements that Washington added when it became the first state to enact a comprehensive consumer health information privacy law in the United States.

On June 29, 2023, the Superior Court of California for the County of Sacramento issued a Tentative Ruling providing for a postponement of enforcement of final CPRA regulations for 12 months after the regulations were finalized (i.e., March 29, 2024). Tentative Rulings are posted by a court the day before a writ or motion is noticed for a hearing and state how the court intends to rule on the motion based on the papers filed by the parties. The ruling may change based on oral argument.  The hearing on the Petition for Writ of Mandate for the CPRA regulations was noticed for June 30, 2023 at ...

On June 28, 2023, Louisiana Governor John Bel Edwards signed into law H.B. 61, which requires interactive computer services to get parental consent (or consent from a legal representative of a minor) to enter into a contract or other agreement, including the creation of an online account, with minors younger than 18 years of age. The Act comes after similar laws enacted in Texas, Utah and Arkansas. H.B. 61 will take effect on August 1, 2024. 

On June 2 and June 5, 2023, the Connecticut and Nevada state legislatures, respectively, voted in favor of sending legislation to their governors for signature that would impose restrictions, among others, on the processing of consumer health data, including geofencing provisions.  Nevada S.B. 370 was signed by Nevada Governor Joe Lombardo on June 16, 2023. These bills contain provisions similar to Washington’s My Health My Data Act and expand on protections in the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 and other privacy laws.

On June 13, 2023, Texas Governor Greg Abbott signed H.B. 18, or the Securing Children Online through Parental Empowerment (“SCOPE”) Act that would impose obligations on digital service providers to protect minors.

On June 13, 2023, Texas Governor Greg Abbott signed H.B. 18, or the Securing Children Online through Parental Empowerment (“SCOPE”) Act that would require digital service providers to get parental consent to create an account with minors younger than 18 years of age.  

On June 6, 2023, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (“FDIC”), the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (“FRB”) and the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (“OCC”) issued their final Interagency Guidance on Third-Party Relationships (“Guidance”). The Guidance provides principles that banking organizations should consider when developing and implementing risk management practices for all stages in the life cycle of third-party relationships.

On May 24, 2023 Google LLC (“Google”) announced its recently updated privacy terms providing that, for many of Google’s advertising services, it will no longer act as a service provider for the purposes of the California Privacy Rights Act of 2020 (“CPRA”). The change may affect businesses’ prior determinations of whether they “sell” personal information under the California Consumer Privacy Act of 2018 (“CCPA”). The updated terms take effect on July 1, 2023, the day CPRA enforcement begins.

On May 31, 2023, the Federal Trade Commission announced a proposed order against home security camera company Ring LLC (“Ring”) for unfair and deceptive acts or practices in violation of Section 5 of the FTC Act.

On May 27, 2023, Texas Governor Greg Abbott signed into law an amendment to Texas’s data breach notification law. The amendment shortens the time period for notifying the Texas Attorney General, requiring notification of a data breach as soon as practicable and not later than 30 days after discovery of the breach. The amendment also requires notification to the Texas Attorney General to be submitted electronically using a form accessed through the Texas Attorney General’s Internet website. The amendment will take effect on September 1, 2023.

On May 18, 2023, the Federal Trade Commission announced it is seeking comment to proposed changes to the Health Breach Notification Rule (the “Rule”). The Rule requires  vendors of personal health records (“PHR”), PHR-related entities and service providers to these entities, to notify consumers and the FTC (and, in some cases, the media) in the event of a breach of unsecured identifiable health information, including cybersecurity intrusions and other instances of unauthorized access. By clarifying the Rule’s scope and applicability, and by modernizing allowable methods of notice, the proposed amendments seek to update the Rule to account for technological change since the Rule’s issuance, which includes the proliferation of health apps and connected devices, and the emergence of a widespread market for health data.

On May 17, 2023, the Federal Trade Commission issued a consumer alert regarding the Premom Ovulation Tracker app (“Premom”) sharing sensitive information with third parties without users’ permission. According to the alert, Premom is a free app that is marketed as an accurate fertility calendar, which can be used to assist users who are trying to become pregnant.

On May 3, 2023, New York Governor Kathy Hochul signed into law fiscal bill A.3007C/S.4007, which contains provisions prohibiting the establishment of a geofence around health care facilities.

On May 18, 2023, the Federal Trade Commission issued a policy statement on “Biometric Information and Section 5 of the Federal Trade Commission Act.”  The statement warns that the use of consumer biometric information and related technologies raises “significant concerns” regarding privacy, data security, and bias and discrimination, and makes clear the FTC’s commitment to combatting unfair or deceptive acts and practices related to the collection and use of consumers’ biometric information and the marketing and use of biometric information technologies.