Here. An interesting report on a third circuit case on whether consumers can revoke their consent to receive automated calls. The case arose in the debt collection context and given the steep penalties under the Telephone Consumer Protection Act–$500 per call and $1500 for willful violations–could lead to a lot of litigation.
Category Archives: Privacy
Daniel B. Heidtke, Jessica Stewart and Spencer Weber Waller, all of Loyola of Chicago's School of Law and its Institute for Consumer Antitrust Studies have written The Telephone Consumer Protection Act of 1991: Adapting Consumer Protection to Changing Technology. Here is the abstract: In the late 1980’s, spurred on by advances in technology, the telemarketing industry […]
Neil M. Richards of Wash U. has written Why Data Privacy Law Is (Mostly) Constitutional, forthcoming in his book, Intellectual Privacy, Oxford University Press (2014). Here's the abstract: This essay argues that privacy critics arguing that most privacy rules create constitutional problems overstate their case. Since the New Deal, American law has rested on the […]
Joshua Fairfield of Washington and Lee University has written Do-Not-Track as Default, 11 Northwestern Journal of Technology and intellectual Property (2013). Here's the abstract: Do-Not-Track is a developing online legal and technological standard that permits consumers to express their desire not to be tracked by online advertisers. Do-Not-Track has the ability to change the relationship between […]
Katherine J. Strandburg of NYU has written Free Fall: the Online Market's Consumer Preference Disconnect, University of Chicago Law Forum (2013). Here's the abstract: Do Internet users “pay” for online products and services with personal data? The common analogy between online data collection for behaviorally targeted advertising and payment for purchases is seriously misleading. There […]
by Jeff Sovern I've posted a paper on SSRN, Can Cost-Benefit Analysis Help Consumer Protection Laws? Or at Least Benefit Analysis?, forthcoming in the University of California-Irvine Law Review. Here's the abstract: Cost-benefit analysis is often troubling to consumer advocates. But this article argues that in some circumstances it may help consumers. The article gives […]
Michael Birnhack of Tel Aviv University has written S-M-L-XL Data: Big Data as a New Informational Privacy Paradigm. Here's the abstract: Can informational privacy law survive Big Data? A few scholars have pointed to the inadequacy of the current legal framework to Big Data, especially the collapse of notice and consent, the principles of data […]
Daniel J. Solove of George Washington and Woodrow Hartzog of Samford's Cumberland School of Law and Stanford's Center for Internet and Society have written The FTC and the New Common Law of Privacy, forthcoming in the Columbia Law Review. Here's the abstract: One of the great ironies about information privacy law is that the primary regulation […]
M. Ryan Calo of Washington has written Digital Market Manipulation. Here's the abstract: Jon Hanson and Douglas Kysar coined the term “market manipulation” in 1999 to describe how companies exploit the cognitive limitations of consumers. Everything costs $9.99 because consumers see the price as closer to $9 than $10. Although widely cited by academics, the […]
by Jeff Sovern Acxiom is about to let you find out some of what it knows about you, as this Times story by Natasha Singer reports. Other data brokers should emulate Acxiom and enable consumers to learn what they know about them And if they refuse to do so, Congress should pass legislation requiring them to tell us […]