Compliance Stuff

  The plaintiffs’ bar has been ramping up lawsuits for alleged violations of state and federal wiretapping laws (e.g., California CIPA, Florida SCA, Federal ECPA) for many months now. Historically, the main issue has been that the defendant did not get the necessary consent because they did not try to do so, meaning there was no cookie consent mechanism in place. Recently, the claims have shifted, and plaintiffs are taking issue with whether and how your cookie banner actually performs. When “Reject” Doesn’t Actually Mean Reject A scenario plaintiffs’ counsel loves is the following: A user lands on a website. A cookie banner pops up. The user clicks “Necessary Cookies Only” or toggles off every non-essential category (performance, functional, targeting, the works). The banner disappears. The user browses assuming that the tracking has stopped, when, in actuality, analytics and advertising tags continue to fire. This scenario has now been the subject of many complaints, often suppor...

While website privacy notices are now commonplace – and consumers might only skim them – a recent settlement highlights the importance of staying vigilant about complying with applicable consumer privacy laws. The Connecticut Attorney General recently reached an $85k settlement with a company whose privacy notice was deemed deficient under the state’s laws. How can you avoid the same fate? If your business is subject to state consumer privacy laws – and most companies are – failure to make sure your privacy notice complies with applicable law could lead to both monetary and non-monetary penalties. Here’s what led to the recent settlement and six steps you can take to ensure compliance. What Happened? Settlement Details:  T he Connecticut Office of the Attorney General announced on July 8 that it had reached a settlement with TicketNetwork, Inc., a company that the AG had previously said was not complying with the requirements of the Connecticut Data Privacy Act (CTDPA) . Tick...