UK: Social Media Domestic Abuse May Lead To 5 Years In Jail

In the United Kingdom, a new law has gone into effect that will enable prosecutors to go after domestic abuse perpetrators who harm their victims online.  Under this law, charges may be brought in domestic abuse matters where there is evidence of repeated controlling or coercive behavior.

Controlling or coercive behavior is defined as a continuing act or pattern of acts which are used to harm, punish, or frighten a victim.  Some examples of repeated controlling or coercive behavior may include: monitoring a person via online communication tools (i.e. tracking apps on mobile devices), or threatening to reveal or publish private information.

While its too early to speculate how this new law will be applied, it demonstrates that it is imperative to understand the legal consequences of your online interactions.  Controlling or coercive tweeting, snapping, pinning, or posting may lead to prison.  

Copyright 2015 by The Law Office of Bradley S. Shear, LLC All rights reserved.

The EU's Push For Stronger Privacy Laws and Safe Harbor

Last week, the European Union took a step closer to enacting stronger digital privacy laws that will make it more challenging for companies to re-purpose the data they are collecting from their customers.  These new data protections would harmonize the privacy laws across the 28 members of the EU and stiffen the potential fines for violators up to 4% of a violator's global revenue.

The European Parliament and individual member governments still must pass the new proposals so it not certain that this is a done deal.  After all of the approvals have been obtained, the law may become effective within two years.

In general, I am in favor of strong industry self-regulation.  Unfortunately, this has not worked as hoped in the digital space.  Some companies are collecting massive amounts of personal information about their users and then utilizing the data for opaque secondary uses (i.e. selling the content to data brokers, psychological experiments, etc...).  Because of these non-transparent abuses, EU lawmakers felt it was time to act to reign in these practices.

Some positive aspects of these reforms provide users the right to know why they are being profiled, how they are being labeled, who is using their personal data, etc... This type of transparency will lead to greater accountability and hopefully lead to some companies changing their troubling privacy policies and data usage practices.  While it may be wishful thinking, I am optimistic that these new laws will convince U.S. law makers and regulators to push for some of these much needed reforms because there is little transparency in the data collection and usage industry.  

This latest push for stronger EU privacy laws coincides with the negotiation for an updated Safe Harbor data transfer agreement which may soon replace the previous one that was invalidated earlier this year.  In our digital dependent economy, participants need to be able to transfer data between continents in a timely fashion. Therefore, I am cautiously optimistic that an updated Safe Harbor Agreement will be finalized early in the new year because in our interconnected world it is imperative for businesses to have legal certainty.  

Copyright 2015 by The Law Office of Bradley S. Shear, LLC All rights reserved. 

Homeland Security Will Vet Visa Applicants' Social Media

The Department of Homeland Security will soon expand its vetting of visa applicants to include social media.  This expansion appears to be in direct response to the recent terrorist attack in San Bernardino, California.  Surprisingly, there was a secret policy in place that banned officials from reviewing applicants' social media content.

If visa applicants urge their digital connections/followers to commit acts of terrorism against the United States and its allies online, it wouldn't surprise me if they would follow through with physical acts of violence if they are allowed to enter our country.  In response to these revelations about this secret policy to not review visa applicants' digital life lawmakers are demanding a change in policy. 

Will U.S. visa applications soon include requests for usernames/account names of all of one's social media accounts? Will applicants be required to provide access to their password protected accounts. Will increased scrutiny help make us safer? There are many unanswered questions as to how the actually vetting will occur.  

Copyright 2015 by The Law Office of Bradley S. Shear, LLC All rights reserved. 

EU Backs Down On Proposal To Raise Social Media Age Limit to 16

In the EU, there was a recent proposal to raise the age limit for children to access social media platforms to 16 years of age absent parental consent.  The idea behind the bill was to help better protect the personal privacy and safety of children.  Banning kids from being able to do something will only make them more interested in subject.  As a parent, I witness this phenomena every single day.

After much deliberation, the EU decided against raising the age limit for social media access to 16 years of age absent parental consent.  EU member states will be free to set their own age restrictions between 13 and 16 years of age.  The debate surrounding this issue was extremely interesting because it demonstrates that law makers around the world are beginning to better understand the issues surrounding unfettered data collection and usage. 

Its importance to have robust conversations on data protection and personal safety issues. Every day, our world is becoming more complex as more personal data is being generated and utilized in ways previously never envisioned so there is a need for these types of continuing conversations.  

Copyright 2015 by The Law Office of Bradley S. Shear, LLC All rights reserved.  

E.P.A.'s Secret Social Media Campaign Violated The Law

According to The New York Times, the Environmental Protection Agency (E.P.A.) engaged in an illegal covert social media campaign to back an Obama administration rule that was intended to to increase protections for our country's streams and waters according to the Government Accountability Office (G.A.O.).

The E.P.A. disputed the G.A.O.'s findings and an official with the agency stated, "[w]e use social media tools just like all organizations to stay connected and inform people across the country about our activities...[a]t no point did the E.P.A encourage the public to contact Congress or any state legislature."

Under the law, federal agencies may not participate in lobbying. The G.A.O. stated that the E.P.A. violated the federal Anti-deficiency Act which prohibits federal agencies from spending money without authorization.  Violating this act may lead to fines and/or jail time.  While its highly unlikely that anyone will be fined or sent to jail for these activities this should serve as a wake up call to government agencies because utilizing social media for illegal activities may create tremendous legal issues that can lead to fines and/or imprisonment.   

Copyright 2015 by The Law Office of Bradley S. Shear, LLC All rights reserved.

Wyndam Settles FTC Data Security Charges

The FTC announced earlier today that Wyndham Hotels and Resorts has agreed to settle charges that the company’s security practices unfairly exposed the payment card information of hundreds of thousands of consumers to hackers in three separate data breaches.  The settlement requires Wyndham to establish a comprehensive information security program designed to protect cardholder data and to conduct annual information security audits and maintain safeguards in connections to its franchisees’ servers.

This settlement demonstrates that the FTC will go after companies that it believe do not have the proper data privacy and security protocols in place. Companies must be careful when determining what type of data they collect from their customers, how they will safeguard the information, and how long they utilize the information. In conjunction with a data collection and usage program it is imperative to have robust privacy and security audits.

The bottom line is that companies should bake privacy and security into their customer data collection and usage programs or they risk millions of dollars in potential legal liability.

Copyright 2015 by The Law Office of Bradley S. Shear, LLC All rights reserved.

  

Canadian Cable Company Facebook Shames Late Paying Customers

There is a valid reason why people are "cutting the cord" and getting rid of their cable subscriptions.  Some cable companies don't have a clue about customer service.  In a very troubling report, Canadian cable company Senga Services has been publicly shaming on Facebook its customers who are in arrears.

Senga Services' behavior was deemed so troubling that Canada's Office of the Privacy Commissioner asked the company to delete its customer shaming Facebook posts.  Do any of the publicly shamed customers have potential legal claims under Canadian law?  What if some of the customers that Senga publicly shamed had a bona fide billing dispute that Senga refused to addressed?  What if some customers were not properly notified of the billing issue due to a move?

Earlier this year, I switched my cable company because I had a major billing dispute.  My now former cable company had lied to me for years and over charged me hundreds of dollars.  Only after I wrote multiple letters to the company and threatened to file FTC and state attorney general complaints was I finally refunded several hundred dollars.

My matter was most likely only settled by the cable company because I am an attorney who has the knowledge and means to easily utilize the proper judicial or regulatory process to obtain the money I was owed.  Most people don't have this luxury.

Companies should tread very carefully when utilizing social media to reach their goals.  Too often organizations empower employees and/or agents to act on their behalf online who don't understand that their digital actions may have legal repercussions.  The bottom line is that its imperative to think before you post.

Copyright 2015 by The Law Office of Bradley S. Shear, LLC All rights reserved.

Mattel, Cybersecurity, Privacy, and Hackable Barbie

Barbie has been an All-American favorite since its introduction in 1959.  She has played a starring role in our popular culture for years; so much so that some girls have gone to great lengths to try to look like her.  The bottom line is that Barbie has become a mainstay in many homes.

For this holiday season, Mattel, the maker of Barbie created a version called "Hello Barbie" that is going to be able to be connected to the Internet.  Some privacy advocates such as the Campaign for a Commercial Free Childhood are very troubled by this new Barbie and have created a social media campaign called #HellNoBarbie because they have some major concerns about how the data being collected will be utilized.

A major problem with Hello Barbie is that parents may not always know when a particular conversation is being recorded by the doll and sent to Mattel's third party technology vendor. Pam Dixon of the World Privacy Forum pointed out to NBC News that the recordings could be utilized in divorce cases and custody battles.

Another issue is cybersecurity. Earlier today, it was reported that Hello Barbie has major privacy and security flaws that could expose the personal privacy and safety of our children. This is a very troubling report. Why didn't Mattel bake privacy and cybersecurity into the design of this toy?  Mattel isn't the only toy maker to have overlooked privacy and cybersecurity issues. VTech, a provider of electronic toys for children was recently hacked and exposed the personal information of millions of children.

The bottom line is that we are entering the era of the "Internet of Toys" where manufacturers may soon start trying to one up each other with how their products are connected online.  The problem is that is appears that many of the privacy and cybersecurity issues that are paramount to protecting the safety our of kids have not been made a priority in this rush for greater profits.

As a parent, I don't want or need my kids toys connected to the Internet. iPhones and Xboxes are meant to be connected online but Barbie, Ken, and GI Joe are not.  Parents must be able to easily control what is recorded about their family in the privacy of their home.  What happened to just being able to play with your kids and having a personal moment that is not shared with the whole world for eternity?

Copyright 2015 by The Law Office of Bradley S. Shear, LLC All rights reserved.