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
As we enter into the heart of the summer there is no time to relax in privacy-land with the next batch of “comprehensive” privacy laws coming into effect on July 1. Namely, those in Texas and Oregon (and Florida if you count it as “comprehensive”). These states will join those already in effect in California, Colorado, Connecticut, Utah, and Virginia. (For a recap of effective dates and requirements, visit our tracker.)Continue Reading It’s (Almost) July 1!: Did You Remember Oregon and Texas (and Florida)’s New Privacy Laws?
Much of the focus on US privacy has been US state laws, and the potential of a federal privacy law. This focus can lead one to forget, however, that US privacy and data security law follows a patchwork approach both at a state level and a federal level. “Comprehensive” privacy laws are thus only one piece of the puzzle. There are federal and state privacy and security laws that apply based on a company’s (1) industry (financial services, health care, telecommunications, gaming, etc.), (2) activity (making calls, sending emails, collecting information at point of purchase, etc.), and (3) the type of individual from whom information is being collected (children, students, employees, etc.). There have been developments this year in each of these areas.Continue Reading Mid-Year Recap: Think Beyond US State Laws!
Florida recently passed a new law and Utah recently repealed and replaced its previously enjoined law with two new bills (available here and here), which regulate minors’ access to social media platforms. The laws highlight states’ continued efforts to protect minors in the social media realm.Continue Reading Mother May I? Florida and Utah Recently Passed Regulations for Minor Use of Social Media Platforms
Among the various requirements under US state comprehensive privacy laws, those that relate to loyalty programs may be some of the most confusing. Only three states — California, Colorado and Florida — regulate these programs. How they do this varies, and the level of detail contained in the laws also varies. In California and Florida, the laws’ impact on loyalty programs is in how they define “financial incentives.” These are times when a company “pays” a consumer for their personal information. This might occur with a straight cash payment. More common though, is optimized pricing or providing a higher quality of services in exchange for getting personal information. For those who offer loyalty programs, depending on how they are operated, they may viewed as be financial incentives under these laws. Colorado’s comprehensive privacy law, on the other hand, imposes obligations on companies that operate “bona fide loyalty programs.” These are defined as programs where information is processed solely to provide the program’s benefits. Benefits must be -like in California- better pricing or quality of services.Continue Reading The Comprehensive Privacy Law Deluge: Impact on Loyalty Programs
It’s been a busy summer for US state privacy laws, and companies now need to keep track of a growing list of requirements from these laws. These include many we have written about in the past, including notice, vendor contract provisions, and offering consumers rights and choices. The laws also impose certain record keeping requirements, which we discuss here.Continue Reading The Comprehensive Privacy Law Deluge: Record-Keeping and Related Requirements
When thinking about privacy notice obligations, companies often -incorrectly- leap to the wording in their privacy policies. The new comprehensive state privacy laws are a reminder that notice obligations are a bit broader than mere privacy policies. To the extent that these laws apply to your organization (see our prior applicability post) there are some notice-related obligations to keep in mind.Continue Reading The Comprehensive Privacy Law Deluge: Approaching Notice Obligations
Of the many worries on privacy compliance teams’ lists as we face the onslaught of state “general” privacy laws are the impacts they have on vendor contracts. Fortunately for those who have already had to deal with contracts with vendors (service providers, processors) in California or EU’s GDPR, the impact should be fairly minimal.Continue Reading The Comprehensive Privacy Law Deluge: Updating Vendor Contracts
With a little less than a week before the next US state “comprehensive” privacy laws (Colorado and Connecticut) go into effect, many are reviewing existing practices. One that keeps coming up is the concept of “profiling.” As a reminder, we now have 11 states with comprehensive privacy laws: California, Colorado, Connecticut, Florida, Indiana, Iowa, Montana, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, and Virginia.Continue Reading The Comprehensive Privacy Law Deluge: What to Do About “Profiling”
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
Companies may want to review their consumer rights processes as we approach July 1. This is the date of enforcement for those parts of CCPA modified by CPRA. It is also the effective date of two more state privacy laws: Colorado and Connecticut. Neither law is substantively much different from California and Virginia, but if an entity was not subject to those laws it may be subject to those in these two additional states. Let’s recap the requirements around choice and individual rights:Continue Reading The Comprehensive Privacy Law Deluge: Approaching Choice and Rights