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As the United States cautiously emerges from the depths of the pandemic, researchers are forecasting double-digit gains in ad spending for 2022. If you’re part of the wave of companies developing new advertising campaigns, you’ll want to brush up on legal requirements designed to ensure that your ads are truthful, fair, and evidence-based. Failure to follow these rules can lead to regulator or competitive lawsuits, reputational harm, loss of consumer trust, significant fines or damages, and in some cases, requirements for corrective disclosures.
Continue Reading Rules of the Road for Advertisers and Marketers: The Basics

On March 15, 2022, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) announced it had filed a complaint against Residual Pumpkin Entity, LLC, formerly doing business as CafePress, and PlanetArt LLC, which bought CafePress in 2020 (collectively, CafePress). The FTC alleged that CafePress, an online platform used by consumers who bought or sold customized t-shirts, mugs, and other merchandise, had, among other things, failed to implement reasonable security measures, and misrepresented that it would use email addresses for order notification and receipt, when in fact it used email addresses for marketing purposes. As part of the proposed settlements with Residual Pumpkin and Planet Art, each is required, among other things, to implement, annually assess, test, and monitor a comprehensive written information security program. Residual Pumpkin also would be required to pay a $500,000 penalty.
Continue Reading FTC Issues Complaint and Proposed Settlement with Online Retailer for Deceptive and Unfair Security and Privacy Practices

Utah is poised to become the fourth state to enact comprehensive consumer privacy legislation, following California, Virginia, and Colorado. Earlier this month, Utah’s legislature passed the Utah Consumer Privacy Act (S.B. 227) (UCPA) with no opposing votes in both the Utah Senate and House of Representatives. The bill was sent to Utah Governor Spencer Cox on March 15, 2022 and the Governor has until March 24, 2022 to either sign or veto the bill, otherwise it will become law without his signature. If enacted, as is anticipated, the UCPA will become effective on December 31, 2023, six months after the Colorado Privacy Act (ColoPA) and nearly a year after the Virginia Consumer Data Protection Act (VCDPA) and California Privacy Rights Act (CPRA) come into effect.
Continue Reading Utah Poised to Become Fourth State with General Privacy Law

On March 9, 2022, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) proposed new rules that would require current and periodic reporting of material cybersecurity incidents as well as more detailed disclosure of cybersecurity risk management, expertise, and governance. This alert summarizes the proposed changes, which are subject to public comment until the later of May 9, 2022 or 30 days after publication in the Federal Register.
Continue Reading SEC Proposes New Cybersecurity Reporting and Enhanced Standardized Disclosure

Thinking of creating a non-fungible token (NFT) marketplace? You’re not alone. Global NFT transactions have risen from $40.96 million in 2018 to around $25 billion in 2021. Organizations from the NBA to Taco Bell have begun implementing NFT strategies. As blockchain-native artifacts, NFTs’ immutability, digital scarcity, and transferability have catalyzed growing interest among consumers and businesses alike, inspiring companies of all sizes to explore potential use-cases ranging from standalone art pieces, to NFTs tied to physical products, to NFTs with real-world or virtual components.
Continue Reading FYI on NFTs: Consumer Protection and Privacy Considerations

On February 16, 2022, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) filed a proposed settlement order in federal court in its case against WW International, Inc (formerly known as Weight Watchers International, Inc.) and its subsidiary Kurbo, Inc. (Kurbo) to resolve allegations that the defendants violated the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act and its implementing rules (COPPA).1 The FTC alleged that the defendants violated COPPA by failing to provide required notices and obtain verifiable parental consent prior to collecting, using, and disclosing personal information from children using their weight loss app. As part of the proposed settlement, the defendants are required to, among other things: 1) update their procedures to ensure that they obtain verifiable parental consent before collecting personal information from children, 2) destroy all of the personal information they obtained in violation of COPPA as well as any models or algorithms based on that information, and 3) pay a civil penalty of $1.5 million.
Continue Reading FTC Settles with Weight Watchers in First Children’s Privacy Case Requiring Deletion of Algorithms