Photo of Lindsey Tonsager

Lindsey Tonsager

Subscribe to Lindsey Tonsager's Posts

Lindsey Tonsager helps national and multinational clients in a broad range of industries anticipate and effectively evaluate legal and reputational risks under federal and state data privacy and communications laws.

In addition to assisting clients engage strategically with the Federal Trade Commission, the U.S. Congress, and other federal and state regulators on a proactive basis, she has experience helping clients respond to informal investigations and enforcement actions, including by self-regulatory bodies such as the Digital Advertising Alliance and Children’s Advertising Review Unit.

Ms. Tonsager’s practice focuses on helping clients launch new products and services that implicate the laws governing the use of endorsements and testimonials in advertising and social media, the collection of personal information from children and students online, behavioral advertising, e-mail marketing, artificial intelligence the processing of “big data” in the Internet of Things, spectrum policy, online accessibility, compulsory copyright licensing, telecommunications and new technologies.

Ms. Tonsager also conducts privacy and data security diligence in complex corporate transactions and negotiates agreements with third-party service providers to ensure that robust protections are in place to avoid unauthorized access, use, or disclosure of customer data and other types of confidential information. She regularly assists clients in developing clear privacy disclosures and policies―including website and mobile app disclosures, terms of use, and internal social media and privacy-by-design programs.

Contact: Read more about Lindsey TonsagerEmail

On December 20, 2022, the Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”) announced its issuance of Health Products Compliance Guidance, which updates and replaces its previous 1998 guidance, Dietary Supplements: An Advertising Guide for Industry.  While the FTC notes that the basic content of the guide is largely left unchanged, this guidance expands the scope of the previous guidance beyond dietary supplements to broadly include claims made about all health-related products, such as foods, over-the-counter drugs, devices, health apps, and diagnostic tests.  This updated guidance emphasizes “key compliance points” drawn from the numerous enforcement actions brought by the FTC since 1998, and discusses associated examples related to topics such as claim interpretation, substantiation, and other advertising issues.…

Continue Reading FTC Issues New Guidance Regarding Health Products

The Colorado Attorney General released updated draft rules interpreting the Colorado Privacy Act on December 21, 2022 (“Draft Rules”).  These revisions follow a series of stakeholder sessions on November 10th, 15th, and 17th.  The Attorney General will convene a formal rulemaking hearing on February 1, 2023.  In advance of the formal rulemaking hearing, stakeholders may submit written comments for consideration. …

Continue Reading Colorado Attorney General Releases Revised Colorado Privacy Act Draft Rules

Last week, New Jersey Assemblyman Herb Conway Jr. introduced a bill similar to the California Age-Appropriate Design Code (“CA AADC”) enacted in September.  The bill, NJ A4919, tracks the CA AADC in many respects but contains several notable differences, which we summarize below:

  • Covered businesses.  The CA AADC applies to any online service,
…

Many employers and employment agencies have turned to artificial intelligence (“AI”) tools to assist them in making better and faster employment decisions, including in the hiring and promotion processes.  The use of AI for these purposes has been scrutinized and will now be regulated in New York City.  The New York City Department of Consumer and Worker Protection (“DCWP”) recently issued a Notice of Public Hearing and Opportunity to Comment on Proposed Rules relating to the implementation of New York City’s law regulating the use of automated employment decision tools (“AEDT”) by NYC employers and employment agencies.  As detailed further below, the comment period is open until October 24, 2022.…

Continue Reading Artificial Intelligence & NYC Employers:  New York City Seeks Public Comment on Proposed Rules That Would Regulate the Use of AI Tools in the Employment Context

On October 10, 2022 the draft rules implementing the Colorado Privacy Act (“CPA”) were officially published in the Colorado Register.  Written comments on the draft rules are due by November 7, 2022.  The CPA draft rules share some similarities with the draft rules set forth by the California Privacy Protection Agency (“CPPA”) interpreting the California Privacy Rights Act (“CPRA”).  Both sets of draft rules address requirements for privacy policy disclosures, consumer rights requests, and providing opt-out mechanisms.  However, there are a number of key differences between the two drafts. We highlight some of these below.…

Continue Reading Colorado Attorney General Releases Draft CPA Rules

On September 4th, the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (“OSTP”) released its Blueprint for an AI Bill of Rights (“Blueprint”), which identifies five principles to minimize potential harms stemming from certain applications of AI.  The Blueprint recognizes the “extraordinary benefits” that AI can provide, and the Blueprint states that harms stemming from AI are not inevitable.  …

Continue Reading White House Releases Blueprint for AI Bill of Rights

During its September 23, 2022 board meeting, the California Privacy Protection Agency (CPPA) provided an update on the status of the ongoing California Privacy Rights Act (CPRA) rulemaking.  Since the closure of the required 45-day comment period, the agency staff have been reviewing the written and oral comments submitted by the public.  The agency will be promulgating revised regulations, which will be drafted by the staff and presented to the Board.  These revisions will be followed by an additional public comment period of 15 to 45 days depending on the scope of the revisions.…

Continue Reading California Privacy Protection Agency Provides Update on CPRA Rulemaking

Last week, the FTC announced its release of a staff report discussing key topics from the April 29, 2021 workshop addressing dark patterns. The report states that the FTC will take action when companies employ dark patterns that violate existing laws, including the FTC Act, ROSCA, the TSR, TILA, CAN-SPAM, COPPA, ECOA, or other statutes and regulations enforced by the FTC. The report highlights examples of cases in which the FTC used its authority under these laws and regulations to bring enforcement actions against companies that allegedly used dark patterns. Accordingly, the report builds upon the FTC’s historical approach of using its existing authority to bring enforcement actions in this context.…

Continue Reading New FTC Report on Dark Patterns