A number of federal privacy laws provide private rights of action, allowing individuals (or class actions) to bring claims alleging violations of certain privacy laws. Some examples of these statutes include the Video Privacy and Protection Act (VPPA), the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA), and the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA). What is more is
Supreme Court
Supreme Court Rules CFAA Does Not Criminalize Every Violation of a Computer-Use Policy
In Van Buren v. United States, the Supreme Court resolved a circuit split as to whether a provision of the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act (CFAA) applies only to those who obtain information to which their computer access does not extend, or more broadly to also encompass those who misuse access that they otherwise…
FTC Stripped of Authority to Pursue Equitable Monetary Relief in Federal Court – What Now?
On April 22, 2021, the Supreme Court issued a unanimous decision finding that the FTC lacks authority to pursue equitable monetary relief in federal court under Section 13(b) of the Federal Trade Commission Act (the “FTCA”). The result means that defendant Scott Tucker does not have to pay $1.27 billion in restitution and disgorgement, notwithstanding…
Supreme Court: The FTC – The Chief Federal Agency on Privacy Policy and Enforcement Since the 1970s – May Not Have Ever Had Authority to Demand Monetary Relief
While Europe is leveraging hefty fines against violators of the EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) (here is a tracker of recent fines: https://www.enforcementtracker.com/), the United States Supreme Court heard oral arguments last month on whether the FTC – the chief federal agency on privacy policy and enforcement since the 1970s – lacks authority…
TCPA Subject to Supreme Court Scrutiny (Again) – What Exactly is Autodialing?
The Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) was passed in 1991 and is known by many as the law that created the “do-not-call” rules. The statute includes a number of restrictions related to telephone, text, and fact solicitations, including a prohibition against what is colloquially known as “autodialing” and “robocalls,” and it creates a private right…
Supreme Court May Weigh In on the Legality of Data Scraping
There was a sense among many that websites whose data was being scraped may have lost a claim against data scrapers last year—specifically, violation of the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act (CFAA)—when the Northern District of California, and then the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, sided with data scraper, hiQ, in…
Big News in Biometrics – Supreme Court Declines to Weigh in on What Plaintiffs Must Show to Bring Biometric Privacy Suit
On January 21, 2020, the Supreme Court denied Facebook’s Petition for Certiorari, raising the issues of (i) Whether a court can find Article III standing based on its conclusion that a state protects a concrete interest, without determining that the plaintiff suffered a personal, real-world injury from the alleged statutory violation; (ii) whether a court…