Can Facebook Stop Data Snarfers?--Meta v. BrandTotal

Can Facebook Stop Data Snarfers?–Meta v. BrandTotal

I refer to “data snarfers” as businesses that aggregate (via scraping or APIs) lots of sensitive online personal information to offer analytics, business/competitive intelligence, and similar services. Academic researchers can also fit this paradigm. Many of these businesses legitimately fill…

Quick Links From the Past Year, Part 1 (CCPA and Privacy)

Quick Links From the Past Year, Part 1 (CCPA and Privacy)

[My approach to quick links is obviously not working very well. C’est la vie.] CCPA [Since I’ve got some CCPA links, it’s an excuse to resurrect the dumpster fire meme. Remember, the CPRA meme is the rolling van on fire.]…

Big Ruling for Free Speech: Most of Florida's Social Media Censorship Law (SB 7072) Remains Enjoined--NetChoice v. Attorney General

Big Ruling for Free Speech: Most of Florida’s Social Media Censorship Law (SB 7072) Remains Enjoined–NetChoice v. Attorney General

On Monday, a unanimous three-judge panel of the 11th Circuit issued an important Internet free speech opinion, NetChoice v. Attorney General (a/k/a NetChoice v. Moody). The opinion holds that the key parts of Florida’s social media censorship law (SB 7072)…

If TOS Formation Fails, Bad Legal Outcomes Are Likely to Follow--Doe v. Roblox

If TOS Formation Fails, Bad Legal Outcomes Are Likely to Follow–Doe v. Roblox

This case involves Roblox, a virtual world. Allegedly, a majority of Roblox users are under 13. Roblox has an in-game currency, Robux. Users can manufacture virtual items in-game, and other users can buy those items using Robux, with Roblox taking…

Minnesota Wants to Ban Under-18s From User-Generated Content Services

Minnesota Wants to Ban Under-18s From User-Generated Content Services

As part of an omnibus bill, the Minnesota House of Representatives passed a troubling bill restricting how under-18 users engage with user-generated content (UGC) services. [At the bottom of this post, I’ve included the text as passed by the Minnesota…

My Comments on the California Consumer Privacy Rights Act (CPRA) Rulemaking

My Comments on the California Consumer Privacy Rights Act (CPRA) Rulemaking

[Today, I made brief remarks at the CPRA “stakeholder sessions” in the “dark patterns” session. My written transcript:] I’m Eric Goldman, a law professor at Santa Clara University School of Law, where I direct the school’s Privacy Law Certificate. My…

Background Reports Protected by Section 230--Dennis v. MyLife

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

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…