Consumer Protection Law Commons^™

Data Privacy Issues In West Virginia And Beyond: A Comprehensive Overview, Jena Martin

Consumer Law Scholarship

This white paper was commissioned by the Center for Consumer Law and Education, a joint initiative launched by West Virginia University and Marshall University to “coordinate the development of consumer law, policy, and education research to support and serve consumers.”

As such, this paper has a dual purpose. First, it provides a comprehensive overview of the many different legal issues that affect data privacy concerns (both nationally and in West Virginia). Second, it documents and discusses the result of a survey and specific focus groups that were undertaken throughout the fall of 2019 into January 2020 where individuals within the …

Sales, Acquisitions, And Mergers Of Direct-To-Consumer Genetic Testing Companies: The Risks And A Solution, Alyssa K Mcleod

Texas A&M Law Review

Direct-to-consumer genetic tests have become increasingly popular in the United States within the last few years. However, these tests pose many risks to the consumer, most notably privacy risks. A subset of these privacy risks involves the issue of company mergers, acquisitions, and sales. Many companies in the direct-to-consumer genetic testing market have privacy policies that contain a variation of a “business transfer” clause. These clauses specify that in the event the company goes through a business transition such as a sale, merger, or acquisition, the consumer’s personal information—including the consumer’s DNA—will be among the assets transferred. This Article explores …

Cyber-Security, Privacy, And The Covid-19 Attenuation?, Vincent J. Samar

Journal of Legislation

Large-scale data brokers collect massive amounts of highly personal consumer information to be sold to whoever will pay their price, even at the expense of sacrificing individual privacy and autonomy in the process. In this Article, I will show how a proper understanding and justification for a right to privacy, in context to both protecting private acts and safeguarding information and states of affairs for the performance of such acts, provides a necessary background framework for imposing legal restrictions on such collections. This problem, which has already gained some attention in literature, now becomes even more worrisome, as government itself …

Regulating Data Breaches: A Data Superfund Statute, Kyle Mckibbin

Vanderbilt Journal of Entertainment & Technology Law

Collecting and processing large amounts of personal data has become a fundamental feature of the modern economy. Personal data, combined with good data analytics, are valuable to businesses as they can provide highly detailed information about individual preferences and behaviors. This data collection can also be valuable to the consumer as it generates innovative products and digital platforms. The era of big data promises great rewards, but it is not without its costs. Data breaches, or the release of personal data into unwanted hands, are pervasive and increasingly massive in scale. Despite the personal privacy harm caused by data breaches, …

Table Of Contents, Seattle University Law Review

Seattle University Law Review

Table of Contents

The Price Of Prime—Consumer Privacy In The Age Of Amazon, Ariana Aboulafia, Greg Fritzius, Tessa Mears, Macy Nix

Mitchell Hamline Law Journal of Public Policy and Practice

No abstract provided.

A Rising Tide Lifts All Consumers: Penumbras Of Foreign Data Protection Laws In The United States, Michael Goodyear

Articles & Chapters

With the growth of collecting, processing, and transferring personal information to third parties, consumers’ data is increasingly exposed to a myriad of risks. Perhaps chief among these are the data protection practices of data collectors themselves. Yet despite the risk to consumers, U.S. data protection law has remained fragmented, focused on individual industries at the federal law and only made comprehensive, occasionally, at the state level. This lack of a comprehensive data protection law in the United States is a significant detriment to the security of U.S. consumers. International law also offers no such path that could comprehensively protect U.S. …

The Small-Er Screen: Youtube Vlogging And The Unequipped Child Entertainment Labor Laws, Amanda G. Riggio

Seattle University Law Review

Family vloggers are among the millions of content creators on YouTube. In general, vloggers frequently upload recorded videos of their daily lives. Family vloggers are unique because they focus their content around their familial relationships and the lives of their children. One set of family vloggers, the Ace Family, has recorded their children’s lives from the day they were born and continue to upload videos of each milestone, including “Elle Cries on Her First Rollercoaster Ride” and “Elle and Alaïa Get Caught Doing What!! **Hidden Camera**.” Another vlogging couple, Cole and Savannah LaBrant, post similar content, including videos titled “Baby …

A Duty Of Loyalty For Privacy Law, Neil M. Richards, Woodrow Hartzog

Scholarship@WashULaw

Data privacy law fails to stop companies from engaging in self-serving, opportunistic behavior at the expense of those who trust them with their data. This is a problem. Modern tech companies are so entrenched in our lives and have so much control over what we see and click that the self-dealing exploitation of people has become a major element of the internet’s business model.

Academics and policymakers have recently proposed a possible solution: require those entrusted with people’s data and online experiences to be loyal to those who trust them. But many have concerns about a duty of loyalty. What, …

Easing The Burdens Of A Patchwork Approach To Data Privacy Regulation In Favor Of A Singular Comprehensive International Solution—The International Data Privacy Agreement, Scott Resnick

Brooklyn Journal of International Law

Data privacy has become one of the premier hot-button issues in today’s increasingly digital human experience. Legislatures around the globe have attempted to act swiftly in an effort to safeguard the highly coveted personal information of their citizens and combat misuse at the hands of international businesses operating with an online presence. Since the European Union’s enactment of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) in 2018, countries around the globe have been grappling with how best to replicate the EU’s leading data privacy regulation while providing the same or greater level of transparency into data collection practices. While a mere …

Forging A Path Towards Meaningful Digital Privacy: Data Monetization And The Ccpa, Rebecca Harris

Loyola of Los Angeles Law Review

The California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) was passed in response to a number of newsworthy data breaches with widespread impacts, and which revealed how little digital privacy consumers actually have. Despite the large market for consumer data, individual consumers generally do not earn money when their personal data are sold. Further, consumers have very little control over who collects their data, what information is collected, and with whom it is shared. To place control back in the hands of the consumer, affirmative consent should be required to collect and sell consumer’s data, and consumers should have the ability to sell …

Data Of The Dead: A Proposal For Protecting Posthumous Data Privacy, Kate C. Ashley

William & Mary Law Review

No abstract provided.

Enough Is As Good As A Feast, Noah C. Chauvin

Seattle University Law Review

Ipse Dixit, the podcast on legal scholarship, provides a valuable service to the legal community and particularly to the legal academy. The podcast’s hosts skillfully interview guests about their legal and law-related scholarship, helping those guests communicate their ideas clearly and concisely. In this review essay, I argue that Ipse Dixit has made a major contribution to legal scholarship by demonstrating in its interview episodes that law review articles are neither the only nor the best way of communicating scholarly ideas. This contribution should be considered “scholarship,” because one of the primary goals of scholarship is to communicate new ideas.

Preservation Requests And The Fourth Amendment, Armin Tadayon

Seattle University Law Review

Every day, Facebook, Twitter, Google, Amazon, ridesharing companies, and numerous other service providers copy users’ account information upon receiving a preservation request from the government. These requests are authorized under a relatively obscure subsection of the Stored Communications Act (SCA). The SCA is the federal statute that governs the disclosure of communications stored by third party service providers. Section 2703(f) of this statute authorizes the use of “f” or “preservation” letters, which enable the government to request that a service provider “take all necessary steps to preserve records and other evidence in its possession” while investigators seek valid legal process. …

A False Sense Of Security: How Congress And The Sec Are Dropping The Ball On Cryptocurrency, Tessa E. Shurr

Dickinson Law Review (2017-Present)

Today, companies use blockchain technology and digital assets for a variety of purposes. This Comment analyzes the digital token. If the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) views a digital token as a security, then the issuer of the digital token must comply with the registration and extensive disclosure requirements of federal securities laws.

To determine whether a digital asset is a security, the SEC relies on the test that the Supreme Court established in SEC v. W.J. Howey Co. Rather than enforcing a statute or agency rule, the SEC enforces securities laws by applying the Howey test on a fact-intensive …

Table Of Contents, Seattle University Law Review

Seattle University Law Review

Table of Contents

A Too Permeating Police Surveillance: Consumer Genetic Genealogy And The Fourth Amendment After Carpenter, Michael I. Selvin

Loyola of Los Angeles Law Review

No abstract provided.

The Criminal, Regulatory, And Civil Issues Surrounding Intellectual Property And Cybersecurity, Ernest Edward Badway, Christie Mcguinness

Brooklyn Journal of Corporate, Financial & Commercial Law

Cyber-attacks have affected all organizations and individual consumers. Dissemination of relevant information and attention to strong information security practices is an important tool in fighting this cyber “pandemic.” Additionally, the legal and regulatory liability companies face from cyber-attacks as well as general strategies and practical solutions companies may implement to protect against cyber-intrusions and respond effectively in the event of an attack are considered. There are many iterations of cyber-crime, and we address the various methods cybercriminals use and the many ways cyber-attacks can take place, as well as the entities and victims affected. Moreover, the legal liability and regulatory …

Modern Privacy Advocacy: An Approach At War With Privacy Itself?, Justin "Gus" Hurwitz, Jamil N. Jaffer

Pepperdine Law Review

This Article argues that the modern concept of privacy itself, particularly as framed by some of its most ardent advocates today, is fundamentally incoherent. The Article highlights that many common arguments made in support of privacy, while initially seeming to protect this critical value, nonetheless undermine it in the long run. Using both recent and older examples of applying classic privacy advocacy positions to key technological innovations, the authors demonstrate how these positions, while seemingly privacy-enhancing at the time, actually resulted in outcomes that were less beneficial for consumers and citizens, including from a purely privacy-focused perspective. As a result, …

Cryptocurrencies' Revolt Against The Bsa: Why The Supreme Court Should Hold That The Bank Secrecy Act Violates The Fourth Amendment, Jeremy Ciarabellini

Seattle Journal of Technology, Environmental, & Innovation Law

The Bank Secrecy Act (BSA) creates a Hobson’s choice: one must either struggle to function in modern society without a bank account or submit to financial surveillance by the government. Both choices result in drastic consequences.

Untangling The Privacy Law Web: Why The California Consumer Privacy Act Furthers The Need For Federal Preemptive Legislation, Jordan Yallen

Loyola of Los Angeles Law Review

No abstract provided.

Data And The Social Obligation Norm Of Property: An Essay In Honor Of Professor Gregory S. Alexander, Christopher K. Odinet

Cornell Journal of Law and Public Policy

In the age of the Cambridge Analytica/Facebook scandal and sundry other data breaches at Under Armour, Target, and Best Buy, the issue of security and privacy in consumer data has become increasingly important. For much of the modern era, the development of technology has gone relatively unchecked, with the United States having ceded much of the policymaking terrain to Silicon Valley. This has resulted in the unbridled creation of vast amounts of consumer data. Users who engage with tech platforms generate bits and bytes about themselves based on their activities, preferences, and habits. This information-this "data"- is then harnessed by …

In Memory Of Professor James E. Bond, Janet Ainsworth

Seattle University Law Review

Janet Ainsworth, Professor of Law at Seattle University School of Law: In Memory of Professor James E. Bond.

Saving America’S Privacy Rights: Why Carpenter V. United States Was Wrongly Decided And Why Courts Should Be Promoting Legislative Reform Rather Than Extending Existing Privacy Jurisprudence, David Stone

St. Mary's Law Journal

Privacy rights are under assault, but the Supreme Court’s judicial intervention into the issue, starting with Katz v. United States and leading to the Carpenter v. United States decision has created an inconsistent, piecemeal common law of privacy that forestalls a systematic public policy resolution by Congress and the states. In order to reach a satisfactory and longlasting resolution of the problem consistent with separation of powers principles, the states should consider a constitutional amendment that reduces the danger of pervasive technologyaided surveillance and monitoring, together with a series of statutes addressing each new issue posed by technological change as …

Internet Of Things For Sustainability: Perspectives In Privacy, Cybersecurity, And Future Trends, Abdul Salam

Faculty Publications

In the sustainability IoT, the cybersecurity risks to things, sensors, and monitoring systems are distinct from the conventional networking systems in many aspects. The interaction of sustainability IoT with the physical world phenomena (e.g., weather, climate, water, and oceans) is mostly not found in the modern information technology systems. Accordingly, actuation, the ability of these devices to make changes in real world based on sensing and monitoring, requires special consideration in terms of privacy and security. Moreover, the energy efficiency, safety, power, performance requirements of these device distinguish them from conventional computers systems. In this chapter, the cybersecurity approaches towards …

A Recent Renaissance In Privacy Law, Margot Kaminski

Publications

Considering the recent increased attention to privacy law issues amid the typically slow pace of legal change.

A Dangerous Inheritance: A Child’S Digital Identity, Kate Hamming

Seattle University Law Review

This Comment begins with one family’s story of its experience with social media that many others can relate to in today’s ever-growing world of technology and the Internet. Technology has made it possible for a person’s online presence to grow exponentially through continuous sharing by other Internet users. This ability to communicate and share information amongst family, friends, and strangers all over the world, while beneficial in some regard, comes with its privacy downfalls. The risks to privacy are elevated when children’s information is being revealed, which often stems from a child’s own parents conduct online. Parents all over the …

Table Of Contents, Seattle University Law Review

Seattle University Law Review

Table of Contents

Privacy's Constitutional Moment And The Limits Of Data Protection, Neil M. Richards, Woodrow Hartzog

Scholarship@WashULaw

America’s privacy bill has come due. Since the dawn of the Internet, Congress has repeatedly failed to build a robust identity for American privacy law. But now both California and the European Union have forced Congress’s hand by passing the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) and the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). These data protection frameworks, structured around principles for Fair Information Processing called the “FIPs,” have industry and privacy advocates alike clamoring for a “U.S. GDPR.” States seemed poised to blanket the country with FIP-based laws if Congress fails to act. The United States is thus in the midst …

A Relational Turn For Data Protection?, Neil M. Richards, Woodrow Hartzog

Scholarship@WashULaw

While most approaches to privacy and data protection focus on the data, this paper explores an alternative approach that focuses on relationships. This means looking more closely at how the people who are exposing their information and the people that are inviting that disclosure relate to each other. It is concerned with what powerful parties owe to vulnerable parties–not just with their personal information, but with the things they see, the things they can click, and the decisions that are made about them. It’s less about the nature of data and more about the nature of power. And it can …