Privacy

U.S. companies have watched over the past year or so as companies within the European Union’s domain have fallen victim to heavy fines from violating the terms of GDPR. With data breaches and privacy violations now being commonplace throughout the world, it might seem concerning to some that U.S. companies do not…

Internet service provider (ISP) and hosting company 1&1 has been fined nearly €10 million ($11m) by Germany’s GDPR watchdog for data protection failures in its call centers. The United Internet subsidiary, which operates across Europe and the Americas, will be appealing the €9.55 million ($10.6m) penalty from the German Federal Data…

Two years ago, Apple launched an aggressive battle against ads that track users across the web. Today executives in the online publishing and advertising industries say that effort has been stunningly effective—posing a problem for advertisers looking to reach affluent consumers. Since Apple introduced what it calls its Intelligent Tracking…

With just six weeks to go before the new California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) goes into effect on January 1, 2020, a surprisingly large percentage of companies are still not ready to handle the compliance demands of the new data privacy regulation. According to a study of 85 companies by New York-based…

It’s been an information con job. Companies lulled us into thinking we were simply connecting with our friends, finding our way around town, or locating the perfect sweater. While we were extolling the virtues of each new digital tool and talking up the latest apps to each other, companies were…

On October 1, 2019 the Court of Justice of the European Union (“CJEU”) decided that a pre-ticked checkbox does not constitute valid consent for cookies – irrespective of whether the information stored in the cookie contains personal data or not. The CJEU further ruled that the information on cookies must…

On October 30, 2019 the Berlin Commissioner for Data Protection and Freedom of Information (Berliner Beauftragte für Datenschutz und Informationsfreiheit – Berlin DPA) issued a €14.5 million fine on a German real estate company, die Deutsche Wohnen SE (Deutsche Wohnen),  the highest German GDPR fine to date. The infraction related to the over…

The GDPR, or General Data Protection and Regulation, is going into effect in May 2018 throughout the European Union (EU) and presents important legal changes and challenges for organizations and consumers alike. Interactions and relationships between customers and businesses are transforming; the GDPR shifts authority over customer data from the business…

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg testifies before a House Energy and Commerce hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington (Photo: Andrew Harnik/AP) Surveillance capitalism has become a catch phrase for a Big Tech business model involving the collection of consumer data online (which is monetized via targeted advertising). Worries about this, which…

The President of the Personal Data Protection Office imposed an administrative fine of over PLN 201,000 for, inter alia, obstructing the exercise of the right to withdraw consent to the processing of personal data.  The punished company – ClickQuickNow Sp. z o.o. did not implement appropriate technical and organizational measures that…