Software Legislation
California Passes New Data Broker Law In Anticipation of January 1, 2020 Effective Date of California Consumer Privacy Act (“CCPA”)
Updated 6.21.24 Software companies in the business of brokering data are on notice: the state of California intends to keep you on a tight leash. In anticipation of the January 1, 2020 effective date of the California Consumer Privacy Act (“CCPA”), California took yet another bold step to protecting the personal information of Californians when…
Read MoreSoftware Industry Concerned About the Potential Impact of AB-5 on Gig Economy
The Software Industry is closely following legislation in California that, if passed, could have a huge impact on Gig workers and the software companies that rely on them. The legislation at issue is AB 5, which would codify and expand the California Supreme Court’s recent decision in Dynamex Operations v. Superior Court (2018) 4 Cal.…
Read MoreShould Law Enforcement Agencies’ Use of Facial Recognition Software Be Subject to Regulation?
As The New York Times and The Washington Post recently reported, facial recognition software is being heavily utilized by government agencies, who are using the software to search state driver’s license databases, despite the fact that most of the photos in the databases are of citizens who have never committed a crime and have never given…
Read MoreDevelopers File Suit Against Apple for App Store Practices Following Recent Decision by U.S. Supreme Court
Two app developers have filed suit against Apple, Inc. over its App Store practices, following the recent decision by the U.S. Supreme Court in favor of consumers allowing a class action suit on similar issues to proceed. The case was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California (San Jose). According…
Read MoreThe Anticipated Impact of The Foreign Investment Risk Review Modernization Act of 2018 (“FIRRMA”) on the Software Industry
Legal commentators have been raising alarms about the significant potential impact of The Foreign Investment Risk Modernization Act of 2018 (“FIRRMA”), since the legislation was signed into law in August, 2018. In case you are unfamiliar with FIRRMA, the legislation dramatically expanded the powers of the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (“CFIUS”)…
Read MoreSoftware Industry Warns of Fallout from Australia’s Passage of New Anti-Encryption Legislation
The software industry is raising concerns about the potential consequences of Australia’s recent passage of legislation to provide law enforcement with expansive new powers to compel the disclosure of encrypted data. According to ITPro, the “Telecommunications and Other Legislation Amendment (Assistance and Access) Bill 2018” was approved by a 46-11 majority in the Australian parliament…
Read MoreIrish Court Has Referred Case to European Court Which Challenges Privacy Shield: Will the EU-U.S. Privacy Shield Framework Withstand Scrutiny by the European High Court?
If your software company has pursued Privacy Shield certification or is contemplating pursuit of certification, then you should know that an Irish Court has referred a case to the Court of Justice of the European Union, which could potentially invalidate the EU-U.S. Privacy Shield as it previously did with the Privacy Shield predecessor, Safe Harbor,…
Read MoreWhat Software Companies Need to Know about the EU General Data Protection Regulation
If your business is in the software industry and you are doing any business in Europe, you should be aware of the EU General Data Protection Regulation (“GDPR”), as it will apply to your business when it goes into effect on May 25, 2018. You also may want to consider pursuing Privacy Shield certification before…
Read MoreBipartisan Bill Introduced in Senate that Seeks to Prevent Attacks on American Cyber-Networks
Democratic Senator Brain Schatz of Hawaii and Republican Senator Ron Johnson of Wisconsin have introduced the “Protecting Our Ability to Counter Hacking Act of 2017,” also known as the “PATCH Act of 2017” in the U.S. Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, following the recent “WannaCry” ransomware attack, with the intention of requiring government…
Read MoreNew Senate Cybersecurity Bill May Expand Government Surveillance Pressures on Cloud Companies
Privacy groups are raising alarms in response to the Senate Intelligence Committee’s Introduction of a new cybersecurity bill: the Cybersecurity Information Sharing Act of 2015 (“CISA”). The text of the current bill has been made available for viewing at this link. According to a National Journal report discussing the proposed legislation, the bill “is intended…
Read MoreCalifornia Adopts Smartphone Kill Switch Law
California has just enacted a smartphone kill switch law, which will require all smartphones sold in the state of California as of July, 2015, to have kill switch features enabled as the default settings on the smartphone. SB 962 requires all smartphones: manufactured on or after July 1, 2015, and sold in California after that…
Read MoreCalifornia Governor Signs Bill Prohibiting Nondisparagement Clauses in Consumer Contracts
California has just added a new type of clause to the list of clauses that violate public policy in the state: the non-disparagement clause. Governor Jerry Brown has just signed AB 2365, which prohibits companies from including nondisparagement clauses in consumer contracts, including online terms of service. The bill–nicknamed the “Yelp” bill–prohibits now the inclusion…
Read MorePresident Obama Unveils New Consumer Privacy Initiative: The Consumer Privacy Bill of Rights
President Obama yesterday unveiled his new consumer privacy initiative, as was announced on the White House website. To view the full text of the initiative, click here. The purpose of the initiative is to urge Congress to adopt a Consumer Privacy Bill of Rights, which codifies the following: Individual Control: Companies should give consumers control…
Read MoreIs the OPEN Act a More Viable Alternative to SOPA?
Now that SOPA and its companion bill PIPA have been tabled thanks in no small part to the statement made by the online community in organizing the SOPA blackout, the focus shifts to the Online Protection and Enforcement of the Digital Trade Act (the “OPEN Act”), H.R. 3782, which was introduced by Rep. Darrell Issa…
Read MoreWebsites Set to Observe SOPA Blackout Day
A number of prominent websites have organized an anti-SOPA protest tomorrow, and are set to blackout for the day. A blackout instructions website has been set up to advise Internet website owners on what to make your website go dark on the designated January 18th protest day. The Los Angeles Times is confirming that Mozilla,…
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