The Federal Trade Commission’s (“FTC”) proposed rule banning the use of non-competes with employees and workers could regulate nearly every employer in the nation. If a final rule emerges from this proposal it could potentially prohibit non-disclosure, non-solicitation, and non-recruitment agreements and functional non-compete clauses. How can individual firms and industry groups alike weigh in on one of

Among the many details to absorb in the draft amendments to the CCPA regulations published by the California Privacy Protection Agency (“CPPA”) on May 27 (the “Draft Regulations”) are new and prescriptive disclosure requirements for notices at collection and privacy policies. While these disclosure provisions (and all of the other provisions of the Draft Regulations)

For those not following every detail regarding the progress of the “three corners” federal privacy bill, here’s a summary of where things stand.

In brief, on June 23, the House E&C Consumer Protection Subcommittee held a markup during which it considered a substitute version of the bill (HR 8152), approved it by voice

On Wednesday, we described draft legislation circulating in the Senate Commerce Committee that would have given the Federal Trade Commission almost unfettered authority to enjoin permanently any act, practice or method of competition that did not meet its approval. https://www.adlawaccess.com/2022/05/articles/senate-commerce-committee-chair-pushes-one-sided-13b-fix/  All the Commission would need to do is show that a reasonable person had fair

Targeted Advertising in the Crosshairs: New Bill Seeks to Ban Many Forms of Targeted AdvertisingBackground

On Tuesday, Congressional Democrats unveiled a new bill to outlaw a wide swath of targeted advertising.  The Banning Surveillance Advertising Act would prohibit ad tech companies from using consumers’ personal information to target ads, with limited exceptions. It also would prohibit advertisers from using third party data, or data about a person’s membership in a protected class, to target ads.  The bill would authorize the FTC, state attorneys general, and private litigants to enforce the law, and the FTC to write rules implementing it.

The effort, led by Senator Cory Booker (D-NJ) and Congresswomen Anna Eshoo (D-CA) and Jan Schakowsky (D-IL), arrives at a time of unprecedented regulatory developments impacting the ad tech industry – most notably, the enactment of new state privacy laws in California, Virginia, and Colorado with provisions regulating the industry. While these privacy laws have focused on giving consumers the opportunity to make choices about data sharing for purposes of targeted advertising, the Banning Surveillance Advertising Act would place blanket prohibitions on such advertising. As we describe here, the FTC has also announced that it is developing a rule targeting “surveillance-based business models,” though the contours of that rule are still unknown.

In a press release, Senator Booker explained his view that “surveillance advertising is a predatory and invasive practice.  The hoarding of people’s personal data not only abuses privacy, but also drives the spread of misinformation, domestic extremism, racial division, and violence.”  Echoing Booker, Rep. Eshoo said that the practice “fuels disinformation, discrimination, voter suppression, privacy abuses, and so many other harms.” Rep. Schakowsky, who chairs the House Energy and Commerce Consumer Protection Subcommittee, said the practice “exacerbates manipulation, discrimination, misinformation, and extremism.”

Given the dramatic changes that the bill would impose on the marketplace, it is not surprising that industry groups have already criticized it forcefully.  In a press release today, IAB stated that the bill would “disenfranchise businesses that advertise on the Internet, and hundreds of millions of Americans who use it every day to find exactly what they need, quickly,” and that it could “eliminate the commercial internet almost entirely.”
Continue Reading Targeted Advertising in the Crosshairs: New Bill Seeks to Ban Many Forms of Targeted Advertising

Subscription services and other automatic renewals continue to be a hot topic, at both the federal and state levels. The FTC recently announced that it was going to increase its enforcement against companies that don’t comply with the law, while various states have been updating or passing new laws. Next up are new laws in

Last week, California’s Governor signed a law that will likely impose significant limitations on companies’ abilities to make recyclability claims or use the popular “chasing arrows” symbol in California.

The law states that using a “chasing arrows symbol, a chasing arrows symbol surrounding a resin identification code, orRecycling Symbol any other symbol or statement” on a

The Colorado Legislature recently passed the Colorado Privacy Act (“ColoPA”), joining Virginia and California as states with comprehensive privacy legislation. Colorado Governor Jared Polis signed the bill (SB 21-190) into law on July 7, and ColoPA will go into effect on July 1, 2023.

How does the measure stack up against the VCDPA and the CCPA (as amended by CPRA)? The good news is that, in broad terms, ColoPA generally does not impose significant new requirements that aren’t addressed under the CCPA or VCDPA, but there are a few distinctions to note..
Continue Reading Privacy Law Update: Colorado Privacy Bill Becomes Law: How Does it Stack Up Against California and Virginia?