Balough
June 17, 2014
A Cincinnati BenGals cheerleader cannot sue a website that hosted allegedly defamatory posts about her, even though the website edited and added comments about the posts, the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals found. The appellate court reversed the trial court’s finding that the website was not immune under the Communications Decency Act of 1996 (CDA) […]
Balough
June 16, 2014
A lawsuit between two competitors over the labeling of a pomegranate-blueberry juice blend may proceed under the Lanham Act and is not precluded by the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (FDCA), the U.S. Supreme Court found. The decision reverses both the trial court and appellate court, which found that POM Wonderful LLC could not […]
Balough
May 27, 2014
Not surprisingly, a Federal Trade Commission (FTC) report finds that data brokers who gather massive amounts of data about consumers operate with a fundamental lack of transparency. The report, Data Brokers: A Call for Transparency and Accountability, recommends federal legislation to make the practices more transparent and give consumers greater control over their personal information. […]
Balough
May 23, 2014
A pamphlet with guidelines for privacy and do not track policies for websites and mobile apps is available from the California Attorney General (AG). While the guidelines focus on California law, it is helpful for websites based outside of California that collect personal data of California residents. In the past, California has been at the […]
Balough
May 15, 2014
Google, as well as other search engines operating in the European Union, must delete old search results when requested by an individual under the right to be forgotten doctrine, the European Union’s highest court ruled. The European Court of Justice granted a request by a Spanish citizen that Google erase from its search results connected […]
Balough
May 14, 2014
A county board candidate is entitled to the name of an anonymous poster who wrote that the candidate “is a Sandusky waiting to be exposed,” an Illinois appellate court ruled. The appellate court affirmed a trial court’s order requiring Comcast Cable Communications, LLC to provide the name of a subscriber who posted the comment as […]
Balough
May 9, 2014
Apparently there is nothing more permanent than a Snapchat disappearing image and the app’s ability to collect all the names and phone numbers on the user’s mobile devices. The mobile messaging app has agreed to settle Federal Trade Commission (FTC) charges that it deceived consumers by stating that the user’s “Snapchat” image or video would […]
Balough
May 3, 2014
Google, Inc. has changed its privacy policy and no longer will scan kids’ accounts set up through their schools to give data to advertisers and to place ads with emails and search results. Previously, Google scanned both the Gmail accounts and Google Search for kids established through the Google Apps for Education program in order […]
Balough
April 25, 2014
It may not be easy to change a website’s privacy policy, especially as part of an acquisition. WhatsApp., Inc., an instant messaging service that is being acquired by Facebook, Inc., makes representations in its current privacy policy that it does not collect names, email addresses, or location data and that is does not archive messages. […]
Balough
April 15, 2014
Seventh Circuit Judge Richard Posner is no second banana to the Banana Lady. Not only did Judge Posner write an opinion affirming the dismissal of the Banana Lady’s copyright infringement lawsuit, but he also pealed back her long history of filing frivolous lawsuits and failure to pay judgments against her. Catherine Conrad is a self-employed […]
