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AI tool that summarizes evidence from cracked phones wades into uncharted constitutional waters

April 10th, 2025|Categories: Corporate Compliance, HB Tort Notes, Journal, New Featured Post for Home Page, News, Technology Law|Tags: , , , , |

As law enforcement agencies adopt cutting-edge AI to process digital evidence, constitutional questions are quickly coming into focus. Guest contributor Justin Ward explores how Cellebrite’s new AI-driven tool—capable of scanning and summarizing entire phone contents—may clash with Fourth Amendment protections. While the tech promises efficiency, civil rights advocates argue it opens the door to warrantless digital dragnets, with court interpretations varying widely across jurisdictions.

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Biometric Privacy Litigation and Coverage Disputes with John Leonard and Cort Malone

June 30th, 2024|Categories: Complex Business Litigation, ELP, Insurance|Tags: , , , , |

Biometric data is big business. In many cases it even helps make our lives better.  It also presents  significant risks for a variety of parties, in addition to those of us who surrender our data. Companies collecting,  storing, utilizing, and monetizing the data face penalties and litigation bolstered by the increasing number of states enacting biometric information privacy acts, or BIPAs, the first of which was in Illinois. In this episode, we discuss the state of biometric privacy litigation, the regulatory landscape, insurance coverage considerations, and recent rulings with guests John Leonard and Cort Malone of Anderson Kill P.C.

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Pixel Litigation Tests Old Privacy Law

September 21st, 2023|Categories: Class Actions, ELP, Technology Law|Tags: , , , , |

New litigation alleging violations of the Video Privacy Protection Act -- which came well before online video streaming -- demonstrates how plaintiff attorneys are creatively applying traditional causes of action to litigate modern privacy issues in the absence of a federal law. Listen now for insights.

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Digital Health Care Companies, Beware: Federal Agencies Are Tracking Your Use of Online Tracking Technologies

June 1st, 2023|Categories: Corporate Compliance, Emerging Litigation & Risk, HB Tort Notes, Journal, Mass Torts, New Featured Post for Home Page, News|Tags: , , , , |

The Authors Patricia A. Markus (trish.markus@nelsonmullins.com) represents health care providers and health technology companies across the country on wide-ranging regulatory compliance, reimbursement, licensure, and operational matters, with a special focus on issues surrounding health information privacy, security, and technology. Shane Duer (shane.duer@nelsonmullins.com) focuses his practice on healthcare regulatory and corporate matters, with an emphasis on data privacy, cyber security, and information management concerns within and beyond the health care industry. Interviews with leading attorneys and other subject matter experts on new twists in the law and how the law is responding to new twists in the world. Digital Health Care Companies, Beware  Federal Agencies Are Tracking Your Use of Online Tracking Technologies. Abstract: Health care industry stakeholders have regularly used online tracking technologies to help improve patient experience. However, growing scrutiny by the Office for Civil Rights, which enforces the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA), requires covered entities and business associates to proceed cautiously in their use of such technologies. In addition, recent enforcement actions by the Federal Trade Commission make clear that a wide range of digital health companies, whether or not regulated by HIPAA, must tread carefully when collecting and disclosing personal information related to health, especially where consumers’ location data is to be used for [...]

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“Years of Deception” Behind Consumer Privacy Violations Alleged

May 2nd, 2023|Categories: Emerging Litigation & Risk, HB Risk Notes|Tags: , , , , |

Mental Health Platform's Data Sharing Practices Challenged. BetterHelp allegedly shared personal identifiable info with third parties.  FTC files administrative complaint asserting "years of deception." Days later, two class actions were filed in the Northern District of California.   Online mental health company BetterHelp, Inc. is facing allegations on two fronts for allegedly sharing personal identifiable information with third parties and breaching consumer privacy. The Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”) initiated an administrative complaint against the California-based online mental health company on March 2, 2023, after what they call years of deceptive practices and blatant denial of a media report published by Jezebel in February 2020. The article cited evidence that BetterHelp shares sensitive patient information and email account information with third parties such as Facebook, Snapchat, Criteo, and Pinterest. Days after the FTC filed its complaint, consumers filed two class actions in the Northern District of California’s San Jose Division (C.M. v. BetterHelp, Inc., March 7, 2023, 5:23-cv-01033 and Jane Doe v. BetterHelp, Inc., March 11, 2023, 5:23-cv-01096). Both consumer privacy lawsuits state that their facts are largely supported by experts in the field of data privacy. BetterHelp is a Delaware corporation with its principal office or place of business in Mountain View, Calif. On its website the company claims it is the “world’s largest therapy platform” with more [...]

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Pixel Litigation the Latest Craze in Privacy Law

April 7th, 2023|Categories: Complex Business Litigation, HB Risk Notes, Technology Law|Tags: , , , , |

Meta, Google Face Barrage of Pixel Lawsuits in Digital Privacy War META PLATFORMS INC. AND GOOGLE  are currently facing nearly 70 lawsuits involving large companies and some hospital systems or individual health care providers utilizing Pixel tracking tools embedded on their websites and applications. Sensitive private data such as financial information gathered from filing tax returns online or patient healthcare information stored on patient portals is being actively tracked and sent to Meta and Google for both analytical and advertising purposes. Tracking pixels are a 1x1 Pixel graphic that serves as a snippet of code used for tracking user behavior, site conversions, web traffic, and other metrics generated from a site’s server. In 2018, Meta told Congress that there were more than 2 million Pixels across the web, which at the time, was one of the largest data-harvesting operations most internet users had ever seen. Meta makes their Pixel code freely available to anyone and any business – thus the amount of Pixel tracking has exponentially grown since Meta testified before Congress. The analytical information that companies gleam from Pixel tracking is paying off and is featured on everything from fast food companies such as Chick-Fil-A, media companies like iHeart Radio, and even tax-filing websites such as Tax Slayer or TaxAct. Pixel Tax Data On November 22, 2022, [...]

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Flying Cameras: Gaps in Drone Regulation and How Courts Can Fill Them … at Least for Now

April 22nd, 2022|Categories: Complex Business Litigation, Emerging Litigation & Risk, Journal, New Featured Post for Home Page, News, Technology Law|Tags: , , , , |

Authors With deep experience in the law and regulation of unmanned aerial vehicles, Kathryn practices in the Providence, R.I., offices of Robinson+Cole. She is a member of the firm’s groups that focus on business litigation, data privacy and security, and drone compliance. Kathryn is also a member of the Editorial Board of Advisors for the Journal on Emerging Issues in Litigation and the Emerging Litigation Podcast. Blair Robinson is a cybersecurity intern at Robinson+Cole. She will graduate in 2023 with a J.D. from the Roger Williams University School of Law to complement her Masters of Science degree in Cybersecurity also from Roger Williams University. Get CLE Flying Cameras: Gaps in Drone Regulation and How Courts Can Fill Them … at Least for Now Drones have rapidly transformed dozens of industries since hitting the commercial market. International aid groups use medical drones to deliver life-saving medications and vaccines to remote areas. Agricultural drones have revolutionized how farmers tend their fields. Film and television producers embrace drones for their ability to capture once prohibitively expensive or outright impossible camera shots. Hobbyists love the technology for a variety of recreational purposes.  However, as drones have become increasingly commonplace, lawmakers and policymakers have struggled with effectively regulating this emerging domain. In addition, no federal law, state law, [...]

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The Commercial Drone Industry: Privacy, Security, Threats, and Mitigation of Risk

December 2nd, 2021|Categories: Corporate Compliance, Featured On-Demand, Technology Law, Torts-On-Demand-CLE|Tags: , , , , |

HB presents a CLE-eligible webinar Now on-demand at the West LegalEdcenter THE COMMERCIAL DRONE INDUSTRY Privacy, Security, Threats, and Mitigation of Risk Drones have become an increasingly valuable tool for businesses of all types and sizes. Drones are already being used in many applications, but more will certainly arise as the technology advances. This means that certain risks, like cyber threats, will also continue to present themselves. Protecting the transmission and storage of data collected through drones is critical. Unfortunately, security usually comes as an afterthought. The drone industry is part of the aviation industry, which, based on its knowledge, keeps safety as a number one concern. Part of that safety is having proper protection for your systems, including security as a fundamental design principle. Take this webinar to gain insights on the topics listed below, and shared by an attorney who practices on the cutting-edge of this evolving technology. Topics: Defining drones. Current and future applications. FAA Modernization and Reform Act of 2012. FAA Part 107 Regulations and waivers. Resources, e.g. the FAA Drone Zone and LAANC Portal. Penalties for violations. Privacy implications. Drones as weapons. Vulnerability to cyber attacks. Take it now! What you get: 1+ CLE credits (subject to bar rules). Insights from an experienced [...]

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The Trajectory of Remote eDiscovery Review in 2022

November 12th, 2021|Categories: Complex Business Litigation, Featured On-Demand, Law Firm Operations, New Webinars, Tort Webinars|Tags: , , , , |

Epiq presents a CLE-eligible webinar The Trajectory of Remote eDiscovery in 2022 Practical guidelines for planning the eDiscovery program for your firm or legal department based on the latest insights. Join legal industry analyst Ari Kaplan, Eric Crawley, Epiq’s managing director for global advanced solutions, Seth Eichenholtz, Director of eDiscovery at Mastercard, and Lora Ramsey, eDiscovery Manager at Walmart for a discussion about the current state of electronic discovery within corporate legal departments and the future of remote options in a post-pandemic environment. Kaplan will reveal – and the panel will discuss – findings from the Epiq-commissioned report based on the perspectives of 30 leading corporate legal eDiscovery professionals about the challenges, tactics, and best practices fueling change in this sector. Eighty-seven percent of the respondents reported that they handle some document review processes with support from their outside counsel. Sixty-three percent also utilize alternative legal services providers (ALSPs). With the near-universal deployment of remote reviewers during the pandemic, only 10 percent of the respondents reported seeing disadvantages. For many organizations, the document review process involves a combination of resources and is often driven by cost and risk. One respondent told us: “We want the lowest cost resource that offers the highest quality work, which is not always the outside law firm.” [...]

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Does Data Sharing and Zoombombing Cause Actual Harm?

January 14th, 2021|Categories: Corporate Compliance, HB Risk Notes, Technology Law|Tags: , , , , |

Legal Writer Law Street Media FTC Settles Health Data Sharing and Privacy Suit With Fertility App Flo Health Nothing in this life is free. Or cheap. Free and low-cost apps. Free internet searches. Free email. Free iPhones. Yeah. We're paying for it one way or the other. In this case, once again, it's private health information some folks are paying with.  Here is an excerpt of a post shared with the permission of Fastcase and Law Street Media. --Tom Hagy, HB Litigation Conferences WASHINGTON, DC -- Jan. 13, 2021 -- The Federal Trade Commission (FTC)  announced that that it has reached a  proposed settlement with Flo Health, Inc., the “developer of a period and fertility-tracking app used by more than 100 million consumers,” over claims that the company shared user health information with third-party data analytics providers despite promising that this information would remain private. In the complaint, the FTC alleged that Flo promised users that it would keep their health data, which includes menstrual cycle tracking and a PMS symptom log, as well as ovulation, fertility, and pregnancy information, private because it would only use this information to provide the app’s services to users. However, the FTC averred that Flo disclosed millions of users’ health data from its Flo Period & Ovulation Tracker app to third-parties “that provided [...]

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Does Data Sharing and Zoombombing Cause Actual Harm?

December 22nd, 2020|Categories: Class Actions, HB Risk Notes, Technology Law|Tags: , , , , |

Legal Writer Law Street Media Zoom Says Data Sharing, Zoombombing Doesn't Cause Personal Harm Zoom is a good name for this company. It seems to have come out of nowhere to become the new verb for web meetings, robbing that distinction from many more established competitors like WebEx and GoToMeeting, maybe because they don't have cool web-sounding names, although people don't seem to be saying "let's Skype later," as much as they used to. Sure, we still "Facetime," but Zoom really shot to the top when it comes to name recognition. According to CNBC's Ari Levy, Zoom reported fiscal third-quarter revenue growth of more than 300% after seeing 355% expansion in the prior period. The company's stock was up almost seven-fold this year but "pulled back in November on positive news surrounding a coronavirus vaccine," Levy reported. And with success comes risk, especially when dealing with private data.  Here is an excerpt of a post shared with the permission of Fastcase and Law Street Media. --Tom Hagy, HB Litigation Conferences Dec. 4, 2020 (San Francisco) -- On Wednesday [Dec. 2], in the Northern District of California, Zoom Video Communications filed a motion to dismiss the plaintiffs’ first amended consolidated class action complaint (FAC) on the grounds that the FAC failed to state a claim for which relief may be [...]

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European Union’s Top Court Strikes Down EU-US Privacy Shield

August 25th, 2020|Categories: Corporate Compliance, Emerging Litigation & Risk, HB Risk Notes, News, Technology Law|Tags: , , , , |

European Union's Top Court Strikes Down EU-US Privacy Shield The Court of Justice for the European Union has invalidated the EU-US Privacy Shield as an approved mechanism for transferring personal data from the European Union to the United States. The Privacy Shield had been in place since October 2015, and enabled U.S. companies to more easily receive personal data from EU entities. The decision by the court “leaves many companies scrambling to implement alternative mechanisms to safeguard personal data transfers to the U.S.," says Sten-Erik Hoidal of Frederikson & Byron, P.A. With the invalidation of the privacy shield, companies are essentially left to decide on their own how data will be lawfully transferred. Attorneys from Perkins Coie recommend companies “consider amending any data processing addenda (DPAs) which companies have signed with vendors or customers to incorporate the EU Standard Contract Clauses.” Moving forward, U.S. and European companies will now attempt to create a new deal that complies with the privacy standards for transferring digital information. The first large company to weigh in on the decision, Microsoft tells customers that they “can continue to use Microsoft services in full compliance with European law” and that the ruling “does not change the data flows of our services to Consumers.”   Photo by Tabrez Syed on Unsplash Send Us Your News

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