On May 13, the Court of Justice of the European Union delivered a groundbreaking ruling on the so-called “right to be forgotten” and the territorial application of the Data Protection Directive 95/46/EC. The Court ruled on key issues under what circumstances search engines must block certain information in the search results of the name of an individual.
Continue Reading ECJ Google Spain Decision Delivered

Last Thursday, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) announced that messaging app Snapchat agreed to settle charges that it deceived consumers with promises about the disappearing nature of messages sent through the app. The FTC case also alleged that the company deceived consumers over the amount of personal data the app collected, and the security measures taken to protect that data from misuse and unauthorized disclosure. The case alleged that Snapchat’s failure to secure its Find Friends feature resulted in a security breach that enabled attackers to compile a database of 4.6 million Snapchat usernames and phone numbers.
Continue Reading FTC Settlement with Snapchat – What Happens on Snapchat Stays on Snapchat?

Please join us for a teleseminar this Wednesday, April 23 at 12 Noon ET on what you need to know about the Heartbleed security bug, presented by Khurram Nasir Gore and Timothy J. Nagle of Reed Smith’s Data Privacy, Security, and Management group, and leading internet security company, IID.

Date and Time:
Wednesday, April 23, 2014
12:00 p.m. ET / 11:00 a.m. CT / 9:00 a.m. PT

Presenters:
Rod Rasmussen, President and Chief Technology Officer, IID
Khurram Nasir Gore, Reed Smith LLP, New York
Timothy J. Nagle, Reed Smith LLP, Washington, D.C.

About Heartbleed:
On April 7, 2014, the Heartbleed bug came to light as a massive blow to the security of the Internet, and all things connected. The Heartbleed bug is not a virus, but a security vulnerability caused by an error in the software writing of OpenSSL, an open-source implementation of the SSL and TLS protocols. Preliminary analyses indicate that up to two-thirds of all web servers were exposed to this security vulnerability. While the first response clearly should be to update all affected corporate systems, corporate counsel and information security officers will also have an opportunity to step back and consider the sufficiency of their incident-response procedures and configuration-management processes.
Continue Reading Teleseminar This Week – Heartbleed Heartburn: What Your Company Needs to Know

We invite you to participate in a webinar hosted by the Association of National Advertisers (ANA) along with Timothy J. Nagle and Christine Nielsen Czuprynski of Reed Smith’s Data Security, Privacy & Management Group, titled Navigating the TCPA Minefield, on Tuesday, January 14, 2014 at 1 p.m. EST. The session will provide participants a valuable update on the Telephone Consumer Protection Act and what marketers need to know when distributing text message promotions.

Among the topics that will be discussed are:

– The current state of the TCPA
– Recommendations for conducting compliant text messaging campaigns
– Best practices for avoiding class action scrutiny

This session is part of a new webinar series hosted by the ANA’s Government Relations group, focusing on current legal and regulatory issues affecting the marketing and advertising community. For additional information, visit the ANA Webinars page at http://www.ana.net/webinars/index.
Continue Reading ANA and Reed Smith Offering TCPA Webinar Next Week

Back in June, FTC Commissioner Julie Brill unveiled an initiative called, “Reclaim Your Name” at the Computer Freedom and Privacy Conference. Her proposed initiative is directed to the big data industry and calls on data brokers to give consumers more control over their personal data. According to Commissioner Brill, Reclaim Your Name would “empower the consumer to find out how brokers are collecting and using data; give her access to information that data brokers have amassed about her; allow her to opt-out if she learns a data broker is selling her information for marketing purposes; and provide her the opportunity to correct errors in information used for substantive decisions – like credit, insurance, employment, and other benefits.”

Commissioner Brill followed up her remarks at the Conference with an op-ed piece in the Washington Post earlier this month, again demanding transparency from data brokers. In her op-ed, Commissioner Brill likened the efforts of data brokers who collect data on surfing habits and app usage to the type of information the NSA was collecting. She also opined that “personal data could be — and probably are — used by firms making decisions that aren’t regulated by the FCRA but still affect users’ lives profoundly” and that these decisions include whether consumers are too risky to do business with or aren’t right for certain clubs, dating services, schools or other programs.
Continue Reading DMA Not a Supporter of “Reclaim Your Name” Campaign

The Digital Advertising Alliance (“DAA”), a self-regulatory group that represents marketing and media organizations, released new guidance this week for advertisers in the mobile space. Entitled “Application of Self-Regulatory Principles to the Mobile Environment,” the guidance builds on well-known principles such as notice (or transparency) and choice (or control), and tailors them to the unique challenges that face the mobile environment.
Continue Reading Mobile in the Spotlight with Digital Advertising Alliance Guidance

Earlier this week, FTC Chairwoman Edith Ramirez spoke to members of the ad industry, urging them to provide “effective and meaningful privacy protection” to consumers with respect to online tracking. Chairwoman Ramirez’s position reportedly surprised, and even frustrated, some attendees by implying that the Digital Advertising Alliance’s self-regulatory program does not do enough in

On February 1, the FTC announced its largest settlement to date with a mobile app developer – an $800,000 penalty – in conjunction with the release of guidance on mobile app best practices for app platforms, app developers, third parties and app trade associations.  The guidance document and the enforcement action together demonstrate the need