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Kathryn (“Katie”) Smith is an associate in the Intellectual Property Practice Group in the firm's Chicago office and a member of the Privacy and Cybersecurity Team. She is certified by the International Association of Privacy Professionals (IAPP) for CIPP/US.

In the second in our series of new CCPA regulations from California, we look at proposed rules for use of automated decisionmaking technology. As a reminder, CCPA discusses these technologies in relation to profiling, namely “any form of automated processing of personal information” to analyze or predict people’s work performance, health, and personal preferences, among other things.Continue Reading California’s Privacy Regulator Had a Busy November, Automated Decisionmaking Edition: What Does It Mean for Businesses?

The California Privacy Protection Agency released proposed CCPA rules for a variety of topics in November, as well as announcing an investigative sweep for compliance with the Delete Act. Topics include the following, which we cover in this week’s California-focused blog posts:Continue Reading California’s Privacy Regulator Had a Busy November: What Does It Mean for Businesses?

The FTC updated its Negative Option Rule last month and gave it a new name to emphasize the expanded scope of programs to which it applies. It will now be the “Rule Concerning Recurring Subscriptions and Other Negative Option Programs.” The updated rule, as the FTC outlines, will now be applicable to nearly all forms of negative option marketing.Continue Reading Click! FTC Updates Its Negative Option Rule

The New York Attorney General’s Office recently settled with Albany ENT & Allergy Services over claims that the healthcare provider failed to protect over 200,000 consumers’ private health information. The claims stem from two ransomware attacks in 2023. The AG argued that the company had violated New York’s data security law, resulting in the incident. As part of the settlement, Albany ENT agreed to pay $2.75 million in civil penalties and to implement additional security measures.Continue Reading New York AG Settles EnforcemENT Action with ENT

The United Kingdom and the United States released a joint statement last month outlining plans focused on children’s online privacy. As indicated in the statement, they intend to engage national institutions and other organizations to support this work. They will also be forming a joint online safety working group.Continue Reading UK and US Issue Joint Statement on Children’s Privacy

The European Data Protection Board issued draft guidelines last month that outline when processing can be considered done for “legitimate interest.” The public has until November 20 to provide comments to the draft.Continue Reading How Legitimate Is Your Business Interest? The EDPB Has Some Thoughts

Regulations impacting children’s use of social media continues to be a space in motion the past few months. There have been developments at both the state level, as well as with the FTC. And there is no sign of slowing down. In this article we give a roundup of some recent developments worth keeping in mind.Continue Reading #StatusUpdate on Social Media, Apps, and Children’s Privacy

The dust is beginning to settle from the raft of AI-related bills Governor Newsom signed last month in California. (See for example, our post about neural data.) Most of the provisions will not go into effect for another few months. Before they do, it is worth examining the impact they will have on companies’ privacy and data security practices. Most, as we outline below, may not change fundamental practice, but instead serve as a reminder to take into account privacy and data security considerations when assessing and implementing AI tools:Continue Reading The Privacy and Data Security Impact of California’s Recent AI Bills

The FTC’s staff report summarizes how it views the operations of social media and video streaming companies. Of particular interest is the insight it gives into potential enforcement focus in the coming months, and into 2025. Of particular concern for the FTC in the report, issued last month, were the following:Continue Reading FTC Social Media Staff Report Suggests Enforcement Direction and Expectations

Those tracking CIPA litigation are familiar with the recent decision holding in favor of a company whose site had an online chat operated by a vendor. The court in that case held (1) that the company had not violated the California Invasion of Privacy Act (CIPA), and (2) that its chat was not unauthorized “wiretapping.” This ruling came as welcome news to companies who offer online chat features, especially those who face—or fear—similar lawsuits.Continue Reading Promising Decision in Wiretapping Case, Win for Businesses