Data Dive

Broad new social media legislation (AB 587) was signed into law in September 2022. AB 587 applies to social media companies with gross revenues of over $100 million and establishes new transparency requirements. Compliance with the reporting requirements will require social media companies to track and maintain information that may not already be tracked and maintained. The California requirements go into effect on January 1, 2024. 

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) reached a settlement with weight loss company WW International (formerly known as Weight Watchers) requiring the company to pay a $1.5 million penalty, delete the personal information of children under the age of 13 that was allegedly obtained unlawfully and delete any work product—including algorithms—derived from that data.¹ This case marks the second time in two years that the FTC has ordered algorithm destruction as a result of alleged improprieties in a company’s data collection practices. 

In August, Viacom and a number of other app developers and ad-tech companies reached a settlement with parents who had alleged that the companies were illegally selling children’s personal information for behavioral advertising. The deal involves 16 separate settlement agreements that impose limitations on the collection and use of children’s personal information and could have far-reaching implications across the mobile app industry.

The California Attorney General surprised companies by issuing new guidance for the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) compliance, reflecting likely compliance missteps by companies. On Tuesday October 12, 2020, the California Office of the Attorney General (OAG) released proposed modifications to the currently effective CCPA Regulations (“Regulations”). The OAG first published the proposed regulations on October 11, 2019 and proposed subsequent modifications on February 10, 2020 and March 11, 2020. The California Office of Administrative Law approved the Regulations on August 14, 2020. Please review our previous posts on the Regulations [A Business Guide to the Draft CCPA Regulations – October 28, 2019;  Understanding What the Revised Draft CCPA Regulations Mean for Business – February 20, 2020; California Approves Final California Consumer Privacy Act Regulations – August 10, 2020.]

On Thursday, March 5, Senator Ed Markey (D-MA) and Senator Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) introduced the Kids Internet Design and Safety (KIDS) Act, which aims to create protections for online users under the age of 16 by limiting the use of certain features and advertising practices designed to appeal to children.

On January 30, Rep. Kathy Castor (D-FL) introduced H.R. 5703, the Protecting the Information of our Vulnerable Children and Youth Act (Kids PRIVCY Act) that would expand requirements under the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA). The bill closely follows the introduction of the PROTECT Kids Act on January 9, which also seeks to amend COPPA. Together, the bills signal the continuing focus on children’s privacy in the 116th Congress.

Over the past year, the growing popularity of smart speakers—and accompanying consumer concerns regarding privacy—has given rise to a number of class action lawsuits alleging that these speakers and their virtual assistants, such as Apple’s Siri and Amazon’s Alexa, are listening in without consumer consent.