Background Reports Protected by Section 230–Dennis v. MyLife
Plaintiffs sued MyLife for selling background reports about them and furnishing “public reputation scores.” MyLife aggregates its data from third-party sources, but the plaintiffs “seek to hold Defendant liable for packaging and re-publishing this information on its website without their…
Twitter Can’t Quash a 512(h) Subpoena
This case involves the Twitter account “@CallMeMoneyBags,” a pseudonymous account. In October 2020, the user posted 6 tweets attacking Brian Sheth, a private equity billionaire, that included photos “depicting a woman or portions of a woman’s body.” The opinion doesn’t…
New York Court Is the Wrong Venue for UK GDPR Class Action–Finch v. Xandr
Maybe I’ve missed other cases in this genre, but I don’t recall seeing them. Xandr self-describes as “the only open, end-to-end platform for scaled, sophisticated campaigns on premium inventory across screens on premium inventory from CTV to data-driven linear and…
Comments on HB 5502, the “INFORM” Act
Today, the House Energy and Commerce Committee is marking up the INFORM Act (I think this is the latest version but who knows). The INFORM Act is like a “know-your-customer” (KYC) law for sellers in online marketplaces. It iterates on…
Privacy Lawsuit Based on Website Tracking by Service Provider Trimmed
This is a lawsuit against Nike and its service provider (FullStory), which provides Nike with “session replay” functionality for its website. FullStory’s software allows Nike to capture information regarding website visitors: (1) mouse clicks, (2) keystrokes, (3) payment card information,…
Court Orders Unmasking Subpoena of Alleged Infringers–Baugher v. GoDaddy
In the DMCA, Congress enabled copyright owners to obtain pre-litigation discovery of alleged infringers (17 USC 512(h)). After sending a takedown notice, the copyright owner can apply for an unmasking subpoena, which the clerk of the court must issue without…
TOS Supports Injunction Against Web Scraping–Southwest Airlines v. Kiwi
This is a scraping lawsuit brought by Southwest airlines against Kiwi.com. The court issues an injunction restricting Kiwi from scraping Southwest’s website. Southwest does not allow online travel agencies to sell Southwest flights without the approval of Southwest. Its terms…
The SHOP SAFE Act Is a Terrible Bill That Will Eliminate Online Marketplaces
[Note: this blog post covers Rep. Nadler’s manager’s amendment for the SHOP SAFE Act, which I think will be the basis of a committee markup hearing tomorrow. If Congress were well-functioning, draft bills going into markup would be circulated a…
Court Casts Doubt on the Legality of the Data Brokerage Industry–Brooks v. Thomson Reuters
Thomson Reuters (TR) offers a database called “CLEAR” that assembles personal information into individual dossiers. The plaintiffs are Black civil rights activists leading a class action lawsuit for publicity rights and related claims. The court denies TR’s motion to dismiss–in…
New Primer on the California Privacy Rights Act (CPRA)
In summer 2018, I wrote a short primer on the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) soon after its passage. That primer proved to be quite popular, and I posted annual updated versions in summer 2019 and 2020. The passage of…