Data Points: Privacy & Data Security Blog

By Nathan A. White

Can the government force the hosting service of an activist website company to turn over vast amounts of user data in order to track down political protesters?  According to a federal court ruling, the answer  -- Yes, but let’s slow this train down a little bit.  On Thursday, August 24, 2017, District of Columbia Superior Court Chief Judge Robert E. Morin ordered DreamHost to comply with a search warrant issued by the Department of Justice on July 12, 2017 seeking IP addresses and other data of visitors to “disruptj20.org” website hosted by DreamHost.  Disruptj20 ...

by Member Omari Sealy
Similar to website browsers, many mobile applications collect a variety of information from the user, including, the user’s identity, usage history, past log-ins, and location.  This enables the application to provide various functionality and to tailor features of the application for a better user experience (e.g., items retained in a shopping cart or targeted advertising).  These applications can be found in a variety of everyday devices such as smartphones, tablets, laptops, smart TVs, and even in some newer automobiles.  However, the enhanced ...

Uber Technologies Inc., the internet-based taxi service, was recently hit with a putative class action lawsuit over a data breach involving the personal information of about 50,000 current and former drivers.  Uber develops, markets and operates a mobile app-based transportation network.  Its app allows consumers to submit a trip request that is then routed to crowd-sourced taxi drivers.  In March 2014, a hacker gained access to a database containing the names and driver's license numbers of tens of thousands of Uber drivers.  Uber knew of the data breach as early as September 2014 ...

LIMITING LEGAL LIABILITY FOR POTENTIAL PRIVACY AND DATA SECURITY ISSUES: PRACTICAL APPROACHES TO A COMPLEX PROBLEM (APRIL 29, 2015):  You know that privacy and data security issues pose a huge risk for your company.  Regulatory penalties, litigation costs and recovery, and even just the cost of analyzing a data breach and sending out required notices can hurt a company’s bottom line not to mention its reputation.  Target’s breach cost the company over $148 million.  Fortunately, there are practical steps that your company can take now to limit liability when the inevitable ...

2014 was the year of the data breach as several large, high profile breaches occurred, including EBay, Target, and Home Depot, that affected the personal data of millions of Americans.  On January 12, 2015, President Obama announced his intention to introduce legislation (by way of Congress) to require notification to consumers when their personal data has been compromised by a data breach.  This proposed law, the Personal Data Notification & Protection Act, is part of a more comprehensive legislative agenda by the White House, including a consumer privacy bill of rights and a law to ...

by Privacy & Data Security Members Karin McGinnis & Robert Sumner

Cyber-Monday sales weren’t the only good thing that happened for consumers this week.  Later in the week a federal judge in Minnesota thwarted Target’s attempt to dismiss a lawsuit brought by banks and credit unions arising out of the massive data breach last year.  Although the breach and access to the credit card information of some 40 million consumers resulted from hackers obtaining the password of a Target vendor who was accessing an unrelated subsystem, the banks and credit unions claimed that Target was liable ...