In a recent decision, the Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts (“SJC”) broadly interpreted a statute that governs the personal information that may be collected by a merchant during a credit card transaction. The decision, Tyler v. Michaels Stores, Inc., SJC-1145 (Mass. March 11, 2013), was issued in response to three questions that had been
March 2013
Supreme Court Rejects Plaintiffs’ Efforts to Stipulate Out of Federal Court
The U.S. Supreme Court unanimously ruled on Tuesday that plaintiffs bringing class actions cannot escape federal jurisdiction by stipulating to seek less than $5 million in damages. In a nine-page opinion, the Court held that plaintiff Greg Knowles had no power to speak for the proposed class when he stipulated in a lawsuit against…
Conference Call on Corporate Political Spending Disclosure
Many public companies are busy fending off shareholder demands (in one form or another) that they disclose political and lobbying expenditures. Covington’s Election and Political Law Practice Group and its Securities Law Practice Group are holding a conference call this Thursday, March 21, 2013, at 12:30 p.m. Eastern, to discuss recent developments, and strategies companies…
EU Data Protection Working Party Sets Out App Privacy Recommendations
By Dan Cooper
By Dan Cooper and Philippe Bradley This week the Article 29 Working Party released its Opinion 2/2013 on apps on smart devices (WP 202), a 30-page report on mobile app privacy and data protection considerations. This development follows on the Working Party’s Statement on the draft General Data Protection Regulation on 27 February 2013…
FTC Releases New Guidance For Online Advertising Disclosures
On March 12, 2013, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) released new guidance for online advertisers, providing specific tips and examples of how to make disclosures clear and conspicuous, and, therefore, not deceptive in the context of emerging technologies, space-constrained screens, and social media platforms. The guidelines—titled “.com Disclosures: How to Make Effective Disclosures in Digital…
Safer “Bring Your Own Device” Policies: New Guidance from the UK Information Commission’s Office
By Mark Young
On 7 March 2013, the UK Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) issued new guidance for employers on the use of personal devices for business purposes. The guidance is largely informed by a survey commissioned by the ICO and carried out by the market research firm YouGov. According to the survey, 47 percent of adults in the…
House Passes Legislation Eliminating Annual GLBA Privacy Notice Requirement
By Mike Nonaka
Earlier this week, the House of Representatives passed H.R. 749, the Eliminate Privacy Notice Confusion Act. The bill is sponsored by Rep. Blaine Leutkemeyer (R-MO) and Rep. Brad Sherman (D-CA). An earlier version of the bill passed the House in December but was never taken up by the Senate. We previously covered similar legislation…
SpectrumWatch: FCC Approves T-Mobile/MetroPCS Merger, Citing Competitive Benefits
By Cort Lannin
On Tuesday, the Federal Communications Commission (“FCC”) approved the proposed merger of cellular service providers T-Mobile USA and MetroPCS. In its written opinion and order, the FCC’s Wireless Bureau concluded that the proposed merger would benefit competition in the wireless market by, among other things, providing the combined company with greater spectrum resources for…
Article 29 Working Party Releases Further Comments on EU Data Protection Reform
On 27 February 2013, the Article 29 Working Party published its latest statement regarding the draft General Data Protection Regulation (the “Regulation”), which continues to undergo revision in the European Parliament and Council. (The latest European body to comment on the draft was the European Parliament’s Committee on Employment and Social Affairs (EMPL), which published…
Shareholder Proposals on Corporate Political Spending are Common, but not Popular
Political spending proposals were among the most common shareholder proposal topics in 2012, with more than 90 political spending proposals being submitted to S&P 500 companies (only 56 were voted upon). Despite the significant number of such proposals submitted in 2012, political spending proposals did not fare well with shareholders, garnering only 26% support from…