Category Archives: Privacy

Amsterdam Summer Privacy Course

We received the following announcement: The University of Amsterdam's Institute for Information Law (IViR) is accepting applications for its fourth annual Summer Course on Privacy Law and Policy which will be held from July 4-8, 2016,  The course focuses on privacy law and policy related to the internet, electronic communications, and online and social media.  It explores both the […]

Marotta-Wurgler Surveys Privacy Policies

Florencia Marotta-Wurgler of NYU has written Understanding Privacy Policies: Content, Self-Regulation, and Markets. Here is the abstract: The current regulatory approach to consumer information privacy is based on a “notice and choice” self-regulation model, but commentators disagree on its impact. I conduct a comprehensive empirical analysis of 261 privacy policies across seven markets and measure […]

Beales & Murris on the FTC

Howard Beales of George Washington University's School of Business and Timothy J. Muris of George Mason have written FTC Consumer Protection at 100: 1970s Redux or Protecting Markets to Protect Consumers? 83 George Washington Law Review 2157(2015).  Here is the abstract: Throughout most of the Federal Trade Commission’s (“FTC” or “Commission”) history, the agency has been […]

Hoofnagle on the FTC’s Privacy Assessments

Chris Jay Hoofnagle of Berkeley has written Assessing the Federal Trade Commission's Privacy Assessments, 14(2) IEEE Security & Privacy 58–64 (Mar/Apr. 2016).  Here is the abstract: Consumer protection regulators worldwide share basic problems: the companies that regulators police are so powerful and rich that fines do not matter. Consider the French with their €150,000 fine […]

Citron Article on State AGs and Privacy Law Development

Danielle Keats Citron of Maryland, Yale and Stanford has written Privacy Enforcement Pioneers: The Role of State Attorneys General in the Development of Privacy Law, Forthcoming in the Notre Dame Law Review,   Here's the abstract: Accounts of privacy law have focused on legislation, federal agencies, and the self-regulation of privacy professionals. Crucial agents of regulatory […]

Paper on Profiling and Targeting Consumers in the Internet of Things – A New Challenge for Consumer Law

Natali Helberger of the University of Amsterdam – Institute for Information Law has written Profiling and Targeting Consumers in the Internet of Things – A New Challenge for Consumer Law. Here is the abstract: What does the shift from buying ‘things’ to buying ‘smart things’ imlies for consumers and consumer protection law and policy? The […]

Study of Privacy Policy Vagueness

Joel R. Reidenberg of Fordham, Jaspreet Bhatia and Travis Breaux, both of Carnegie Mellon,and Thomas B. Norton also of Fordham have written Automated Comparisons of Ambiguity in Privacy Policies and the Impact of Regulation. Here is the abstract: Website privacy policies often contain ambiguous language that undermines the purpose and value of privacy notices for […]

Ben-Shahar & Chilton Study Finds Simplifying Privacy Disclosures Doesn’t Help

Omri Ben-Shahar and Adam S. Chilton both of Chicago have written Simplification of Privacy Disclosures: An Experimental Test. Here's the abstract: Simplification of disclosures is widely regarded as an important goal and is increasingly mandated by regulations in a variety of areas of the law. In privacy law, simplification of disclosures is near universally supported. […]

Web Privacy Census Updated

Ibrahim Altaweel of Good Research, Nathan Good, also of Good Research, and Chris Jay Hoofnagle of Berkeley have posted their updated Web Privacy Census, Technology Science 2015121502, Online. Here is the abstract: Most people may believe that online activities are tracked more pervasively now than they were in the past. In 2011, we started surveying […]