Tag archives: Privacy

Ninth Circuit severs the “debt collection” exemption of the TCPA in dispute over social media text messages

By Max Kellogg (US) on October 31, 2019 Posted in Privacy

On June 13, 2019, the 9th Circuit handed down a decision in Duguid v. Facebook, Inc., 926 F.3d 1146 (9th Cir. 2019), which has at least partially brought into question the future of the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (“TCPA”). Around January 2014 Facebook started sending Noah Duguid sporadic text messages, alerting Duguid that an unrecognized … Continue reading

Doxing the age of social media

By Daniel Daniele (CA) on June 4, 2019 Posted in Privacy

Online privacy is a fantasy for many people. We voluntarily post information about every aspect of our lives. Information we do not publicize can often be extracted from website data or our personal accounts (email, social media, etc.). Our privacy and sensitive information is often in jeopardy. What happens when our private and sensitive information … Continue reading

Exposed! Woman awarded $6.4m for explicit revenge photos including copyright breach

By Kerri Gevers (ZA) on May 17, 2018 Posted in Copyright

Four years after a Californian woman sued her ex-boyfriend for posting sexually explicit photographs and videos of her online, she was awarded USD $6.4 million in one the largest judgments of its kind. According to the New York Times, although the victim was successful, this case highlights the complexities of the law in this area … Continue reading

The growing importance of brand optimization strategies

By Daniel Daniele (CA) on May 15, 2018 Posted in Trademark

Brand recognition and brand awareness Having a social media presence in today’s digital and fast-paced era is critical. However, having a social media presence requires a long-term strategy that includes a plan to optimize the company’s brand awareness and brand recognition. These are some of the key factors in the profitability and longevity of a … Continue reading

LinkedIn’s Updated Terms of Service Aim to Increase Profile Visibility and Sharing

By Chandler Stephens (US) on February 7, 2018 Posted in Privacy

In 2017, LinkedIn made several updates to its Terms of Service – comprised of its Privacy Policy and User Agreement – to provide for new LinkedIn features and give users some choices over how their information is used. In general, the changes revolve around new features that are intended to increase profile visibility and make … Continue reading

Who is responsible for fan sites?

By Sven Jacobs (DE) on December 7, 2017 Posted in Privacy

The Advocate General to the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) Yves Bot caused a sensation with his unexpected opinion concerning the admissibility of social media fanpages under EU data protection law. According to the opinion of Mr. Bot, the operator of a social media fanpage is “jointly responsible for the processing and … Continue reading

Me, Myself & ‘AI’

By Daniel Daniele (CA) on September 20, 2017 Posted in Copyright, Patent, Privacy

Human interactions with technology In the past few years, the use of social media has increased rapidly. A key feature of social media platforms and social media apps is the ability to interact with other people in ways that were not thought possible in previous generations. With the click of a button, someone from the … Continue reading

Data processing and storage: Protection of Personal Information (POPI) and your social media account

By Lovanya Moodley on August 31, 2017 Posted in Privacy

The South African Protection of Personal Information Act, 2013 (POPI), which protects the processing of personal information by public and private bodies, is much like similar UK and EU legislation. It was signed into law in November 2013 but is not in full effect yet. Once the Act is made effective, companies will be given … Continue reading

Who is Fact Checking the Fact Checkers?

By Daniel Daniele (CA) on April 4, 2017 Posted in Defamation, Privacy

With the proliferation of so-called “fake news”, companies are starting to rely on third party organizations to perform a “fact checking” function in order to distinguish between legitimate news and fake news. The fake news epidemic gained traction in the recent US presidential election. We have previously written about the fake news problem, as well … Continue reading

The edit button: can the past be erased?

By Daniel Daniele (CA) on January 4, 2017 Posted in Defamation, Privacy

Social media users have a new demand for 2017 – they want the ability to edit their public messages. Spelling mistakes, missing words and misplaced pronouns can have embarrassing, unintended and sometimes dangerous consequences. The ability to edit one’s message is an attractive feature. This request has led some users on the social media platform … Continue reading

Germany orders Facebook to stop collecting WhatsApp user data

By Sven Jacobs (DE) on October 25, 2016 Posted in Privacy

The Hamburg Commissioner for Data Protection and Freedom of Information (Hamburg DPA) recently issued an administrative order prohibiting Facebook from collecting and storing user data of German WhatsApp users. The Hamburg DPA also ordered Facebook to also delete all data that has already been forwarded to Facebook by WhatsApp.… Continue reading

Production of Social Media Documents Denied

By Brian Chau (CA) on July 22, 2016 Posted in Litigation, Privacy

How safe is information is hidden behind an individual’s privacy settings? Can I assume that my interest in privacy ensures that anything marked “private,” or “shared only with my friends” remains so, even in the face of a production order in Canada?… Continue reading

German competition authorities initiate proceeding against Facebook

By Sven Jacobs (DE) on May 19, 2016 Posted in Privacy

Facebook became the latest American technology company to face antitrust hurdles in Europe after the German Federal Cartel Office (Bundeskartellamt), a competition authority, opened an investigation into whether Facebook Inc., USA, Facebook Ireland Limited and Facebook Germany GmbH abused their alleged dominant position in social networking by violating data protection laws. Accordingly, unlike other proceedings … Continue reading

Internet’s ‘Hide and Seek’ Battle Continues in Canada

By Daniel Daniele (CA) on May 18, 2016 Posted in Copyright, Litigation, Privacy

The anonymity of the Internet has posed many challenges to the protection of intellectual property rights. The sheer size of the population of online users and the millions of file-sharing programs and other social media outlets that exist have left IP rights holders struggling to protect their property and goodwill in the digital era. For … Continue reading

Facebook “like” button violates privacy laws

By Nerushka Bowan and Tatum Govender (ZA) on April 21, 2016 Posted in Privacy

On 9 March 2016 the Düsseldorf Regional Court in Germany ruled that an online shopping site, Peek & Cloppenburg, which integrated Facebook’s “like” button into its website had violated users’ privacy rights. How the “like” button works The button allows website users who click on it to share instantly the pages and content from the website on … Continue reading

Hacked private messages used in court

By Kerri Gevers (ZA) on February 18, 2016 Posted in Litigation, Privacy

A South African high court recently ruled that a civil litigant’s private Facebook messages, which were unlawfully obtained by the hacking of his personal account, were nevertheless admissible as evidence against him. In Harvey v Niland, the litigants were members of the same corporation. Niland was also an employee of the corporation. After leaving his … Continue reading

Social Listening – Are You Ready?

By Mayura Noordyke (US) on February 16, 2016 Posted in General, Privacy

One of the keys to a successful social media presence for businesses is real-time engagement and quick response times. “Social listening” can help businesses tap into consumer sentiment in order to engage with their audience effectively and to elevate their brands. What is social listening? Social listening constitutes tracking conversations on social media that mention … Continue reading