Remember the 2015 AshleyMadison.com data breach, where hackers gained access to the personal information of about 36 million users from over 46 countries, and threatened and carried through on their promise to release the information to the public? This highly publicized incident has resulted in a $1.6 million settlement between operators of the dating website
FTC Settles with Turn Over Alleged Privacy Policy Misrepresentations
On Wednesday, the FTC announced that Turn, a California-based ad-tech firm, agreed to settle charges that it misrepresented its consumer tracking practices to Verizon Wireless customers. According to the FTC, such customers could not delete or turn off advertising identifiers because Turn synced multiple identifiers without reconciling user preferences or express user requests to delete
Better Online Ticket Sales Act of 2016
On December 14, 2016, President Obama signed into law the Better Online Ticket Sales Act of 2016. The BOTS Act prohibits circumventing a website’s security measures to acquire event tickets. It also restricts the reselling of tickets when the seller knows or should have known they were acquired through circumvention. Importantly, it empowers the
NAD Decision on Savings Claims Holds Valuable Lessons
The NAD recently issued a decision involving savings claims that holds some valuable lessons for advertisers. Lowes ran TV ads advertising that consumers could get “20% off appliances $396 or more.” Not all appliances in that price range were discounted at 20%, though, and a consumer complained to the NAD, arguing that the retailer had
Vemma Settles Ongoing Litigation with FTC over Pyramid Charges
The FTC announced today that it had settled charges with multi-level marketer and seller of health and wellness drinks Vemma over allegations that it operated a pyramid scheme. The FTC initially filed the action in August 2015 in federal court in Arizona, alleging that Vemma encouraged participants to buy products to qualify for bonuses and
Homeland Security Issues IoT Guidance for Businesses
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has published non-binding principles and best practices to help businesses work through key Internet-of-Things (IoT) security issues. Entitled “Strategic Principles for Securing the Internet of Things (IoT), Version 1.0,” the principles seek to provide stakeholders with tools to account for security as they develop, manufacture, implement, or use network-connected
CPSC Issues Guidance to Encourage the Disclosure of Relevant Consumer Product Safety Information in Private Litigation
On November 29, 2016, the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) published guidance for private litigants when drafting protective orders, confidentiality agreements, and settlement agreements in litigation related to consumer products within the CPSC’s jurisdiction. The guidance encourages parties to include a provision in their protective order or settlement agreement that allows for disclosure of relevant
Avoiding the Enforcement Crosshairs of Cross-Device Tracking
The Digital Advertising Alliance (DAA) recently announced that enforcement of its guidance on cross-device tracking (the “Application of the DAA Principles of Transparency and Control to Data Used Across Devices”) is set to begin on February 1, 2017. Originally published in November 2015, the guidance was intended to clarify how the DAA’s Core
Don’t Lose Your DMCA Safe Harbor Protection
If your website allows users to post content, you’re probably already familiar with the Digital Millennium Copyright Act. Among 
other things, the DMCA provides online service providers a “safe harbor” from potential liability arising from publishing content that infringes a third party’s copyrights, if that content was posted by another person. In order to take
Lessons from Adobe’s State AG Data Breach Settlement
Last month, several state Attorneys General announced a $1M settlement with Adobe Systems, Inc. in connection with a 2013 data incident involving the personal information of roughly 534,000 consumers. The 15 Attorneys General alleged that the software vendor failed to provide reasonable security safeguards, an allegation Adobe denied in the settlement agreement executed by the