In testimony before a House Judiciary subcommittee on Tuesday, Jason Weinstein (Deputy Assistant Attorney General for the DOJ Criminal Division) emphasized the importance of data retention from internet and cell phone service providers in fighting crime.  He invited Congress to consider legislation that would strengthen data retention standards.  Weinstein offered several examples of federal and…

According to a Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation survey of depository institutions, approximately 38 percent of institutions offer some form of remote deposit capture (RDC) service.  RDC enables a customer to deposit checks and other items electronically through the internet or the customer’s mobile phone.  The service was first authorized in 2004 when Congress passed the…

We recently covered the Red Flag Program Clarification Act of 2010 in a blog post and client alert.  The Act was intended to narrow the scope of the Federal Trade Commission’s Red Flags rule, which imposes requirements on creditors and financial institutions to detect and deter identity theft.  Prior to the Act’s passage, the…

The Washington Post has published an article describing a relatively new arena for behavioral advertising: your online bank statement.  Participating banks serve marketing to their customers based on the customer’s spending history.  These promotions may be particularly valuable to advertisers because they are targeted based on how a customer actually spends his or her money and because customers can…

On January 7, 2010, the U.S. Supreme Court agreed to review a Court of Appeals decision striking down Vermont’s prescription confidentiality law.  The State of Vermont had petitioned the Supreme Court to review the case on December 13, 2010, after the Second Circuit ruled that the law constituted an impermissible restriction on commercial speech under the…

The FTC announced today that the deadline to submit comments on the preliminary staff report, “Protecting Consumer Privacy in an Era of Rapid Change: a Proposed Framework for Businesses and Policy Makers,” has been extended from January 31 to February 18.  It is unclear whether the Department of Commerce, which is seeking comments on its own…

Earlier this week, Gerry Waldron discussed the 2011 outlook for online privacy legislation in the House, examining the impact that major changes to membership of the House Energy & Commerce Committee will have.  We now know that, despite former Telecom Subcommittee chairman Rick Boucher’s loss in the November election, his influence may live on…