CNET reports that Rep. Jay Inslee (D-WA) is calling on the FTC to investigate Apple’s privacy practices, particularly with respect to location-based services.  In a letter to FTC Chairman John Leibowitz, Inslee expressed concern about users’ lack of awareness of “location-aware technology.”  He writes:  “Citizens expect to be able to know the extent to which…

Smartphone Location Data
Last week two UK-based researchers revealed that Apple iPhones record location-based data in an unencrypted file stored on each phone. The information, gleaned from WiFi routers and cellular towers within the phone’s signal range, has been collected without the knowledge of the phones’ owners, and would allow Apple to track each phone’s…

Just when the conversation about privacy legislation had shifted to the bills recently introduced by Sen. John Kerry and Rep. Cliff Stearns, California State Senator Alan Lowenthal has recaptured the headlines by amending his “Do Not Track” bill  (S.B. 761) to include a sweeping prohibition against selling, sharing or transferring consumer information.  Lowenthal’s bill would require the…

Yesterday the Department of Transportation issued its final rule on “Enhancing Airline Passenger Protections.”  The proposed rule had been published in December 2009 and received over 2,000 comments.  One of the most controversial aspects of the original proposed rule was a requirement that airlines must provide all their fare and product information to Global Distribution Systems…

As we have previously posted, California State Senator Alan Lowenthal has introduced do-not-track legislation with the support of Consumer Watchdog and other public advocacy groups.  Most recently, the California Senate Judiciary Committee has scheduled a May 3, 2011 hearing on the bill.   SB 761 directs the California attorney general to adopt regulations requiring companies that collect online…

By Eric Bosset

Judge Phyllis Hamilton of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California recently permitted a lawsuit arising out of a major data security breach suffered by social-media application developer RockYou to survive a motion to dismiss in part, based on the theory that plaintiff had  stated a “generalized injury” sufficient to maintain Article III standing—at least at the…

The Article 29 Working Party recently released an opinion on data breach notification in the EU. The opinion addresses two main issues:

• Experience to date with the existing breach notification rules in the ePrivacy Directive.

The breach notification obligation imposed by article 4.3-5 of the ePrivacy Directive (2002/58/EC) only applies to providers of electronic communications…