On Friday, January 27, California Attorney General Rob Bonta announced an investigative sweep of businesses that provide mobile apps, issuing warning letters to those that AG Bonta alleges failed to comply with the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA).  This sweep focused specifically on “popular retail, travel, and food service industry apps” that failed to comply

The perplexing question of what U.S. companies must do to comply with EU “cookie” law became slightly more clear with the recent decision of the European Court of Justice (CJEU) in Planet49 GmbH, but numerous questions still remain. A main source of confusion about cookies is the interplay between two EU privacy laws, the

Over the past several years, state legislatures have become more aggressive in passing laws to protect consumers’ digital rights. The promulgation of state data security and privacy laws, such as the California Consumer Privacy Act, is a prime example of this trend. Another less publicized example of state oversight of online activities is legislation regulating

Following the speedy enactment of the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA or Act) in June 2018, business and consumer advocates alike have been pressuring California lawmakers to clarify the many ambiguities raised by the Act’s sweeping requirements. California lawmakers recently responded to these calls for greater clarity by proposing a slate of amendments to address some of the more controversial provisions of the CCPA, including the definition of “personal information”, requirements regarding information sharing, and the scope of industry exemptions.
Continue Reading  Proposed Amendments to the California Consumer Privacy Act May Limit Scope of the Act

Last week, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (“OCC”) published the Spring 2018 Semiannual Risk Perspective (the “Report”), which uses up-to-date data to identify risks to U.S. banks and measure their compliance with applicable laws and regulations.  The Report concluded that some of the OCC’s primary concerns are with the elevation in operational risk “as banks adapt business models, transform technology and operating processes, and respond to evolving cyber threats.”  The Report also focused on elevated compliance risk associated with bank efforts to “manage money-laundering risks in a complex environment.”

Many of the OCC’s observations and recommendations remained the same from its Fall 2017 report, leaving readers to wonder what will spur less conversation and potentially more action among OCC-supervised banks or concrete guidance by the OCC.  Regardless, a common thread running throughout both reports is the potential risk presented to financial institutions by emerging technologies, which carry the simultaneous blessing and curse of greater business opportunities, but also greater operational and compliance risks.
Continue Reading  OCC Semiannual Risk Perspective Highlights Cybersecurity, Fraud, Money Laundering Concerns

The FTC has released its annual report summarizing its activity during 2017 relating to privacy and data security issues.  In its self-declared role as “the nation’s primary privacy and data security enforcer,” the FTC outlines 10 privacy cases and 4 data security cases that it brought in 2017, including Uber Technologies (transportation service), Vizio (television manufacturer), Blue Global (lead generator), Upromise (college rewards program), ACDI Group (an alleged debt buyer), TaxSlayer (tax preparation service), and D-Link (wireless routers and Internet cameras). In addition, the FTC also brought its first actions to enforce the EU-US Privacy Shield in 2017. The FTC report also described its activities relating to international enforcement, children’s privacy, and Do-Not-Call.
Continue Reading  FTC Releases Annual Privacy and Data Security Update