A long-running class-action lawsuit filed after consumer electronics giant Vizio was caught spying on customer viewing habits can be settled, subject to a final approval, a court has ruled. The group of Vizio customers alleged in its 2016-filed complaint that the company was covertly collecting viewing data from customers’ internet-connected smart TVs. U.S. District Judge Josephine Staton […]
View More Court says Vizio’s secret smart TV tracking class-action settlement can move forwardCategory: Federal Trade Commission
Europe issues a deadline for US’ Privacy Shield compliance
The European Commission has finally given the U.S. a deadline related to the much criticized data transfer mechanism known as the EU-US Privacy Shield . But it’s only asking for the U.S. to nominate a permanent ombudsperson — to handle any EU citizens’ complaints — by February 28, 2019. If a permanent ombudsperson is not […]
View More Europe issues a deadline for US’ Privacy Shield complianceOath agrees to pay $5M to settle charges it violated children’s privacy
TechCrunch’s Verizon-owned parent, Oath, an ad tech division made from the merging of AOL and Yahoo, has agreed to pay around $5 million to settle charges that it violated a federal children’s privacy law. The penalty is said to be the largest ever issued under COPPA. The New York Times reported the story yesterday, saying the […]
View More Oath agrees to pay $5M to settle charges it violated children’s privacy‘Google You Owe Us’ claimants aren’t giving up on UK Safari workaround suit
Lawyers behind a UK class-action style compensation litigation against Google for privacy violations have filed an appeal against a recent High Court ruling blocking the proceeding. In October Mr Justice Warby ruled the case could not proceed on legal grounds, finding the claimants had not demonstrated a basis for bringing a compensation claim. The case relates to the […]
View More ‘Google You Owe Us’ claimants aren’t giving up on UK Safari workaround suitUK High Court blocks compensation suit against Google’s ‘Safari workaround’
An attempt to bring a class-action style litigation in the UK to claim up to £3BN in compensation from Google for ignoring iPhone user privacy settings has been blocked after the High Court judge ruled the case cannot proceed. The case pertains to actions by Google between 2011 and 2012 when it allegedly harvested personal […]
View More UK High Court blocks compensation suit against Google’s ‘Safari workaround’Uber to pay $148 million in data breach settlement
Uber has agreed to pay $148 million to settle a data breach that affected some 57 million customers in 2016. The agreement was with the attorneys general of all 50 states and the District of Columbia to resolve their legal inquiries on this matter, Uber’s chief legal officer Tony West said in a statement released Wednesday. The […]
View More Uber to pay $148 million in data breach settlementWhite House says a draft executive order reviewing social media companies is not “official”
A draft executive order circulating around the White House “is not the result of an official White House policymaking process,” according to deputy White House press secretary, Lindsay Walters. According to a report in The Washington Post, Walters denied that White House staff had worked on a draft executive order that would require every federal agency to […]
View More White House says a draft executive order reviewing social media companies is not “official”Amazon is working with the FTC’s fraud investigation against Sellers Playbook
Amazon said today it is working with the Federal Trade Commission’s investigation into consumer fraud allegedly committed by Sellers Playbook, a Minnesota-based business that claimed to help Amazon sellers make more money. FTC and the state of Minnesota announced today that they have charged Sellers Playbook and its owner Jessie Tieva and CEO Matthew Tieva, […]
View More Amazon is working with the FTC’s fraud investigation against Sellers PlaybookThe FBI, FTC and SEC are joining the Justice Department’s inquiries into Facebook’s Cambridge Analytica disclosures
An alphabet soup of federal agencies are now poring over Facebook’s disclosures and the company’s statements about its response to the improper use of its user information by the political consultancy Cambridge Analytica. The Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Federal Trade Commission and the Securities and Exchange Commission have joined the Justice Department in examining […]
View More The FBI, FTC and SEC are joining the Justice Department’s inquiries into Facebook’s Cambridge Analytica disclosuresPressure mounts on EU-US Privacy Shield after Facebook-Cambridge Analytica data scandal
Yet more pressure on the precariously placed EU-US Privacy Shield: The European Union parliament’s civil liberties committee has called for the data transfer arrangement to be suspended by September 1 unless the US comes into full compliance. Though the committee has no power to suspend the arrangement itself. But has amped up the political pressure on […]
View More Pressure mounts on EU-US Privacy Shield after Facebook-Cambridge Analytica data scandalFacebook data misuse firm snubs UK watchdog’s legal order
The company at the center of a major Facebook data misuse scandal has failed to respond to a legal order issued by the U.K.’s data protection watchdog to provide a U.S. voter with all the personal information it holds on him. An enforcement notice was served on Cambridge Analytica affiliate SCL Elections last month and the deadline […]
View More Facebook data misuse firm snubs UK watchdog’s legal orderProgressive advocacy groups call on the FTC to “make Facebook safe for democracy”
A team of progressive advocacy groups, including MoveOn and Demand Progress, are asking the Federal Trade Commission to “make Facebook safe for democracy.” According to Axios, the campaign, called Freedom From Facebook, will launch a six-figure ad campaign on Monday that will run on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter, among other platforms. The other advocacy groups […]
View More Progressive advocacy groups call on the FTC to “make Facebook safe for democracy”