Early this month, a Northern District of California judge dismissed, with prejudice, a putative class action complaint asserting five privacy-related causes of action, concluding the “issue of consent defeat[ed] all of Plaintiffs’ claims.” Lakes v. Ubisoft, Inc., –F. Supp. 3d–, 2025 WL 1036639 (N.D. Cal. Apr. 2, 2025). Specifically, the Court dismissed plaintiffs’ claims under the (1) Video Privacy Protection Act (“VPPA”); (2) Federal Wiretap Act; (3) California Invasion of Privacy Act (“CIPA”) § 631; (4) common law invasion of privacy; and (5) Article I, Section 1 of the California Constitution. Continue Reading California Court Holds Plaintiffs’ Consent Defeats Claims Involving Use of Website Pixel
FTC Staff Paper Finds Most “Smart” Products Manufacturers Fail to Disclose How Long They Will Provide Software Updates
In late November, the Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”) released a staff perspective paper (“the Paper”) detailing the results of an FTC study that surveyed 184 “smart” devices, ranging from smartphones to hearing aids to door locks, to determine whether manufacturers disclose how long they provide software updates for their products and related apps. Without such updates, according to the Paper and the corresponding press release, these products “may lose their ‘smart’ functionality, become insecure, or completely cease to operate.”Continue Reading FTC Staff Paper Finds Most “Smart” Products Manufacturers Fail to Disclose How Long They Will Provide Software Updates
New York AG Issues Guidance on Website Privacy Controls
The New York Office of Attorney General (OAG) recently published guidance for website privacy controls. Although New York does not have a comprehensive privacy law, business’ privacy-related practices and statements may be subject to New York’s consumer protection laws, which generally prohibit businesses from engaging in deceptive acts and practices. Accordingly, the OAG noted that “statements about when and how website visitors are tracked should be accurate, and privacy controls should work as described.”Continue Reading New York AG Issues Guidance on Website Privacy Controls
California Privacy Protection Agency Holds Public Hearings on Proposed Regulations
The California Privacy Protection Agency (“CPPA”) held two public hearings last week on its proposed regulations. Continue Reading California Privacy Protection Agency Holds Public Hearings on Proposed Regulations
New Jersey Law Requires Employers to Provide Notice Before Tracking Vehicles
On January 18, 2022, a New Jersey bill which prohibits employers from making use of tracking devices in vehicles operated by employees without providing written notice was passed into law. See Assembly Bill A3950. Effective April 18, 2022, the law will subject employers that knowingly make use of a “tracking device” in a vehicle used by an employee without providing written notice to the employee to civil penalties not exceeding $1,000 for the first violation and not exceeding $2,500 for the second violation. Id.
Continue Reading New Jersey Law Requires Employers to Provide Notice Before Tracking Vehicles
Congressional Democrats Introduce New Bill Banning Targeted Advertising
Early last week, Senator Cory Booker (D-NJ) and Congresswomen Anna Eshoo (D-CA) and Jan Schakowsky (D-IL) introduced a new bill, the Banning Surveillance Advertising Act, which would prohibit ad tech companies and other advertisers from engaging in targeted or “surveillance” advertising. Targeted advertising is defined under the bill as
Continue Reading Congressional Democrats Introduce New Bill Banning Targeted Advertising