The Children’s Advertising Review Unit (CARU) released new guidelines for interacting with children in the metaverse: Building Guardrails for Child-Directed Advertising & Privacy in the Metaverse. The guardrails are intended to be “realistic and actionable” ways for companies to comply with privacy laws and engage responsibly with children online.Continue Reading CARU Releases Metaverse Guidelines
Texas has joined Arkansas and Utah as the third state to impose requirements on social media accounts for those under 18. Namely, with the Securing Children Online through Parental Empowerment Act (“SCOPE Act”), Texas will place requirements on “digital service providers.” The law goes into effect September 1, 2024. It does not provide for a private right of action. Instead, enforcement will be by the Texas attorney general.Continue Reading Texas’ SCOPE Act Puts Focus on Social Media and Minors
X Corp., the company formerly known as Twitter, recently sued Bright Data over its site scraping activities. Bright Data is a data collection company and advertises—among other services—its “website scraping” solutions. Scraping is not new, nor are lawsuits attempting to stop the activity. We may, though, see a rise in these suits with the rise in companies using them in conjunction with generative AI tools.Continue Reading Scraping the Bottom of the Barrel: X Corp. Sues Bright Data Over Site Scraping
Texas has now become the 11th state, following Florida, to have a “comprehensive” privacy law. HB 4 was signed by the governor on June 18, 2023. This caps off a busy spring for state lawmakers not only in Texas, but Florida, Iowa, Indiana, Tennessee, and Montana. The law goes into effect on July 1, 2024 (the ability for agents to submit rights requests is not effective until January 1, 2025 however). For a round-up of state laws’ effective dates, visit here.Continue Reading The Lone Star State Joins the Privacy Law Deluge: Another Governor Signs
Florida has become the latest state to enact a comprehensive privacy law this year when SB 262 was signed by Governor DeSantis last week. It combines some new, and some familiar, provisions. It has also passed a child privacy law, similar to parts of California’s Age Appropriate Design Act, going into effect July 1, 2024.Continue Reading Another Governor Signs: Florida Privacy Law Will be Effective July 2024
The Utah legislature recently passed SB 152 and HB 311. While these two bills will primarily impact those who are “social media” entities under the law, they may have broader impact when the majority of their requirements take effect, on March 1, 2024.Continue Reading The Beehive State Joins the Buzz Around Minors and Social Media
Companies are continuing to find it hard to navigate the legal landscape of website accessibility. Plaintiff’s lawyers argue that “inaccessible” websites or mobile apps fail to comply with the Americans With Disabilities Act or similar state laws. This despite the absence of standards for website accessibility in these laws. Similarly, while the Department of Justice does not have a regulation setting out detailed website accessibility standards, the Department’s position has been that the Americans with Disabilities Act’s general nondiscrimination and effective communication provisions apply to web accessibility. Continue Reading The Rough Waters of Website Accessibility
Following its 2021 Dark Patterns enforcement policy, the FTC recently issued a staff report on the practice. The report summarized many of the cases the agency has brought against companies it alleges have engaged in “dark patterns” designed to “get consumers to part with their money or data.” These include using design elements that induce false beliefs, that delay important and material information, that lead to unauthorized charges, or that subvert or confuse privacy choices.Continue Reading FTC Renews Focus on Dark Patterns
The Children’s Advertising Review Unit recently settled with TickTalk Tech, LLC over its information collection practices. CARU, a self-regulatory body that reaches voluntary settlements with companies, conducts regular audits of privacy practices by companies in the child space. During one such audit, it identified concerns over TickTalk Tech’s kids smart watch, TickTalk4.
Continue Reading Smart Watch Maker Settles with CARU Over Privacy Policy and Parental Consent
The Digital Advertising Accountability Program, which enforces privacy principles for digital advertising, issued a compliance warning to advertisers regarding device fingerprinting. This warning is worth keeping in mind, since the “fingerprinting” practice is rising in more and more industries.
Continue Reading DAA Issues Warning On Device Fingerprinting
Google Play’s “data safety form” is now live. Developers can now submit the form for early review and feedback. Starting in April 2022, Google will require this label and a privacy policy for all new and existing apps. This is similar to Apple. Before, only apps that collected personal and sensitive user data needed to share a privacy policy in Google’s store.
Continue Reading Google’s Privacy “Data Safety” Form Is Now Available