Privacy Headlines

Data Protection Report · 10/9/2026

On September 30, 2026, the California Governor signed SB 690 , which amends the California Invasion of Privacy Act (CIPA) to restrict private enforcement—but only for claims under CIPA’s pen register and trap-and-trace provisions arising from websites and online or mobile applications. As we had previously written , the bill originally created additional exclusions, but the legislative process narrowed its scope. This new law not only bars new private lawsuits alleging CIPA violations based on its pen register and trap-and-trace provisions, but also applies retroactively to any claim pending in an action commenced within the past two years. The Governor signed the bill, but made clear in his signing letter that he would like to see additional legislation next year: This measure addresses the vexatious use of CIPA lawsuits and demand letters to extract settlement money from small businesses that unwittingly install software on their websites that at times have tracked and sh

FTC Press Releases · 8/27/2026

The Federal Trade Commission finalized orders requiring Cox Media Group (CMG) and two other firms to pay a total of $930,000 to settle allegations they deceived customers by falsely claiming to offer an AI-powered service that could target localized ads based on conversations captured from consumers’ smart devices and that consumers had opted into such targeting. In three separate complaints first announced in May , the FTC alleged that Georgia-based media and marketing company CMG Media Corporation, which does business as Cox Media Group , and two marketing firms it worked with, New Hampshire-based MindSift LLC and Wisconsin-based 1010 Digital Works LLC , deceived customers by claiming they used a special algorithm to listen in on and detect pertinent conversations from smart devices in order to target ads to consumers within a specific geographic region. Contrary to these companies’ claims, however, the marketing service wasn’t based on voice data, and consumers hadn’t opted into thi

FTC Press Releases · 7/9/2026

RentGrow, a provider of consumer reports for tenant screening, will be required to pay $2.25 million to settle Federal Trade Commission allegations that the company violated the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA), including by failing to use reasonable procedures to ensure the accuracy of its reports, and the FTC Act. The FCRA requires consumer reporting agencies (CRAs) to maintain reasonable procedures to assure the maximum possible accuracy of the information they include in background screening reports, disclose the sources of information used to compile a background screening report when a consumer requests it and take certain steps when a consumer disputes the completeness or accuracy of information in their background screening report. A complaint , filed by the Department of Justice upon notification and referral from the FTC, alleged that Massachusetts-based RentGrow Inc. is a CRA since it compiles information it obtains from a variety of sources into background screening reports