Tag Archives: Facebook

Is the Video Privacy Protection Act a New Litigation Weapon for Consumers?

On September 19, 2022, a Massachusetts federal District Court denied Boston Globe Media Partners LLC’s motion to dismiss a consumer class action suit against it. This case is one of 47 proposed class actions filed since February 2022 against various companies, each based on a company’s use of Meta’s Pixel tracking tool.

Boston Globe Media Partners is a “multimedia organization that provides news, entertainment, and commentary across multiple brands and platforms”;… More

Schrems’ Privacy Organization Files First Complaints Based on GDPR

On Friday, May 25, the day when GDPR became effective, noyb.eu (None of Your Business), the non-profit privacy organization recently set up by Max Schrems, filed the first complaints based on GDPR.

Max Schrems is the Austrian privacy lawyer who had complained about the transfer of his data to the United States by Facebook:  he argued that, in light of the Snowden revelations,… More

On to Trial—Summary Judgment Denied to Facebook in Privacy Litigation

The litigation over Facebook’s Tag Suggestions feature in the United State District Court for the Northern District of California continues, with the court this week denying both sides’ bids for summary judgment in a ten-page order. The case, formerly captioned Patel v. Facebook and now going by the name of In re Facebook Biometric Information Privacy Litigation, is on course to proceed to trial in July.… More

Procedural Violations of BIPA: One Court Says They Cause Actual Harm and Confer Standing—How Long Will This Ruling Hold Up?

In a recent ten-page order, a federal judge of the United States District Court for the Northern District of California declined to dismiss a lawsuit against Facebook alleging that Facebook’s “Tag Suggestions” feature violates the Illinois Biometric Information Privacy Act (BIPA). The ruling means that the case, Patel v. Facebook, Inc., Civil Action No. 3:15-cv-03747-JD, will proceed, but the long-term impact of the ruling is less clear.… More

Schrems v. Facebook: The Show Must Go On In Vienna, But Now As A One-Man Show

Recently, Austrian privacy activist Maximilian Schrems won a partial victory in his continuing battles with Facebook. We discuss that case below. But first, we review his prior tilts with Facebook.

Schrems in Ireland’s Courts

When Schrems was a college student, he heard a Facebook representative at a conference talk about European privacy rules with a lack of consideration that shocked him. Since then, Schrems has been fighting Facebook on many fronts.… More

EU Updates on Schrems II and the Privacy Shield

The current challenge to Facebook’s privacy practices in Ireland (“Schrems II”) may be coming to a head.  You will recall that in Schrems I, the challenge to Facebook’s privacy practices led to a decision issued by the European Court of Justice that invalidated the US-EU Safe Harbor.  Following the invalidation of the Safe Harbor, Facebook switched to the Commission’s Standard Contractual Clauses (SCC) and the Schrems complaint was reformulated to challenge the SCC.… More

Webinar on March 16: Internet Takedowns and Domain Name Disputes for the Generalist In-House Counsel

As all aspects of business inexorably shift toward online, it is not surprising that intellectual property infringement, cybersquatting, and related internet abuses abound. Luckily, there are various procedures available by which aggrieved companies can seek relief short of litigation.

Foley Hoag will present a 60-minute webinar on Thursday, March 16 at 12:30 pm EDT offering guidance for in-house counsel regarding internet takedowns and domain name disputes,… More