The Summer 2021 Edition of the quarterly IT & Data Protection Newsletter by Reed Smith Germany has just been released:
In this edition we cover the following topics:
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In a Law360 article published last week, the top six media and advertising trends expected in 2021 are discussed. It is no surprise that data privacy and protection issues will likely continue to be a major focus for those operating in the media and advertising sectors. Two major themes identified include the potential for increased…
Hollywood movie star Reese Witherspoon and her clothing line, Draper James, LLC, have found themselves the subjects of a public relations debacle, and now, a class action after running a promotion for teachers gone horribly wrong.
In April, Draper James ran an Instagram promotion to recognize and thank teachers for their work during the COVID-19 pandemic. The April 2, 2020 promotion post stated: “Dear Teachers: We want to say thank you. During quarantine we see you working harder than ever to educate our children. To show our gratitude, Draper James would like to give teachers a free dress.”
The Instagram post went on to provide further details of the promotion, including that to “apply”, teachers needed to fill out a form with their name and work email addresses, a photo of their school IDs, the grade level and subjects they teach, as well as their school name and state. In exchange for providing what the teachers alleged to be “sensitive personal, employment information,” teachers thought they would receive a free dress from the brand. While the Instagram post did caveat in a parenthetical that the offer was “valid while supplies last – winners will be notified on Tuesday April 7th” the post did not disclose that only 250 teachers would receive a free dress. The lawsuit claims that the “vague illusory comment” was insufficient to place a reasonable consumer on notice that that this was a sweepstakes or that the brand would “only be making an unreasonably limited number of products available under this offer.”
Continue Reading Legally blown: Reese Witherspoon and her fashion line face breach of contract and privacy class action over ‘free dress’ giveaway
In April, the Federal Trade Commission settled charges against Progressive Leasing, a company that markets virtual rent-to-own payment plans to retail stores nationwide. Unlike traditional rent-to-own companies, Progressive does not operate its own brick-and-mortar stores. Instead, Progressive markets its rent-to-own payment plans to consumers who shop at certain retail stores or websites, primarily those in…
With newly proposed legislation, the House has joined the Senate in introducing bipartisan legislation making changes to the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA). This pending legislation, when combined with the Federal Trade Commission’s (FTC) ongoing COPPA review and workshop, foreshadows expanded COPPA protections, especially for teenagers between 13 and 15 years of age.
In…
With all the focus on Brexit and the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA), there has not been much published about the draft e-Privacy regulation recently. Readers will remember that there had been plans to implement this companion legislation (which covers specific issues regarding cookies and direct marketing among other things), at the same time as the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). However, since the draft proposals proved (rightly) so controversial, this did not happen and the drafts have been chugging their way through compromise debates and revisions ever since.
Although some have begun to think that we may never see the legislation come to fruition, in fact there has been quite a lot of progress in the last six months. It is possible that a draft could be finalised by the EU Council by the summer (although it will still then need finalising with the EU Parliament and input from the European Commission).Continue Reading Five things we still don’t know about the e-Privacy regulation (which are getting very annoying!)
The International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) has revised its code of conduct for advertising and marketing (the ICC code) to keep up with the “rapid evolution of technology and technologically-enhanced marketing communications and techniques”.
The revised ICC code considers emerging digital marketing and advertising practices, in order to set a “gold standard for modern rule-making in our digital world”.
The ICC code is a framework for self-regulation, which applies across the global advertising and marketing industry.
The basic principle of the ICC code is that all marketing communication should be “legal, honest, decent and truthful”. Other key principles include respecting human dignity, being transparent, fair competition, social responsibility, making the marketer’s identity apparent, and taking special care where communications are directed at children and teenagers under 18.
Continue Reading ICC updates marketing and advertising code to account for the digital world
Jason Gordon and Michael Strauss penned an article for Law360 about the top five trends that dominated advertising law in 2016. The article discusses core advertising industry issues such as media transparency, SAG-AFTRA, Federal Trade Commission enforcement efforts, and the gamification of mobile apps.
To find out more, click here.
This post was also written by Frederick Lah.
The Online Interest-Based Advertising Accountability Program Council issued its first ever compliance warning about the omission of notices of data collection for online behavioral advertising, which are required under the Self-Regulatory Principles for Online Behavioral Advertising. Enforcement actions against first parties failing to provide such notice…
This post was also written by Joshua B. Marker and Paul Cho.
One of the bills we have been following since May has recently cleared the governor’s desk and been signed into law. SB 568, now popularly known as the “Eraser Button” law, adds two significant, privacy-related requirements for operators of websites, online services, and…
