PrivacyRSS

  • April 4, 2012

    TD Bank Customers Score Class Cert. In Overdraft Fee Case

    A Florida federal judge granted class certification Tuesday to TD Bank NA customers alleging the bank manipulated the order of debit card transactions to maximize overdraft fees, in violation of its contracts and state consumer protection laws.

  • April 4, 2012

    BP, ConocoPhillips, Shell Strike Deal To Exit Hot Fuel MDL

    Energy giants BP PLC, ConocoPhillips and Shell Oil Co. on Wednesday exited a Kansas multidistrict litigation alleging they illegally sold fuel without revealing or accounting for temperature expansion.

  • April 4, 2012

    Ad Industry Pushes Back Against Commerce Privacy Codes

    The online advertising industry urged the U.S. Department of Commerce on Monday to steer away from creating voluntary codes of conduct for do-not-track and other technologies currently subject to industry self-regulation.

  • April 4, 2012

    Gap Hit With Class Action Over Gift Certificate Expirations

    The Gap Inc. was hit with a putative class action Wednesday in Illinois alleging that the 90-day expiration dates on its gift certificates violate the state's consumer fraud statute, which requires a five-year redemption period for such items.

  • April 4, 2012

    Rising Star: Wilson Sonsini's Michael Rubin

    Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati PC's Michael Rubin helped convince a federal court to pare back a challenge to Google Inc.'s Street View program in one of three high-stakes MDLs against the company he's currently handling, earning him a spot among Law360's top five privacy lawyers under 40.

  • April 4, 2012

    High Court Asked To Hear Telecom Spying Immunity Suits

    A group of disgruntled customers asked the U.S. Supreme Court last week to hear a collection of consolidated class actions against various telecommunications giants over their participation in the National Security Agency's eavesdropping program, arguing the law granting the companies immunity violates constitutional separation of powers.

  • April 4, 2012

    Canada Praises Facebook For Ramping Up Privacy Efforts

    Though she criticized aspects of Facebook Inc.'s friend suggestion feature, Canada's privacy commissioner found no issue with the site's social plug-ins and identity verification practice Wednesday, offering the company a rare sunny assessment of its privacy policies.

  • April 4, 2012

    Chamber Wants Review Of EEOC Background Check Guidance

    The U.S. Chamber of Commerce in a letter released Tuesday urged the Office of Management and Budget to require the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission to seek public comment before issuing new guidance on employer use of criminal convictions or credit history.

  • April 4, 2012

    Mobile Ad Industry Bows To Privacy Push With Tracking Tool

    The mobile advertising industry this week responded to regulatory and congressional concerns over its privacy practices, launching a new system that will allow consumers to opt out of mobile ads and a self-regulatory group aimed at developing an alternative standard for mobile device identification.

  • April 4, 2012

    ConAgra Sued Over 'All-Natural,' Antioxidant Claims

    ConAgra Foods Inc. was hit with a putative class action Monday in California accusing it of luring health-conscious consumers by falsely or misleadingly claiming its canned tomatoes, cooking sprays and hot cocoa were 100 percent natural or contained certain antioxidants and nutrients.

  • April 4, 2012

    BofA Boots Some Claims From Credit Plan Marketing MDL

    A California federal judge on Tuesday halved the contract claims brought by multidistrict litigation plaintiffs alleging Bank of America Corp. charged consumers for a credit protection plan they never consented to join, ruling an agreement did not preclude the fees.

  • April 3, 2012

    Franken, Consumer Groups Urge Privacy Legislation

    Sen. Al Franken, D-Minn., and consumer privacy interest groups on Monday urged the Obama administration to draft legislation implementing many of the principles in the online privacy bill of rights proposed in February.

  • April 3, 2012

    ReliaStar Skirts Class Action Over Loan Interest Charges

    ReliaStar Life Insurance Co. on Tuesday escaped a putative class action in Florida federal court claiming it failed to inform policyholders that it would continue to charge interest on cash loans taken out of their accounts after the loans were repaid.

  • April 3, 2012

    FTC Officials Say Privacy Codes Won’t Create Safe Harbor

    Federal Trade Commission officials on Tuesday shot down the notion that compliance with new privacy codes could provide a safe harbor for companies, instead urging the industry to follow these guidelines to build favor with consumers and regulators.

  • April 3, 2012

    Calif. Health Provider Faces 30K-Patient Suit Over Data Breach

    A former patient hit St. Joseph Health System with a putative class action in California state court Monday, alleging the health care provider and its hospitals failed to adequately protect approximately 30,000 electronic health records that made their way into the public domain.

  • April 3, 2012

    Rising Star: Hausfeld's James Pizzirusso

    Since jumping headfirst into consumer protection litigation while still in law school, James Pizzirusso of Hausfeld LLP's has pulled down millions in settlements and tackled class actions against behemoths like Acer Inc. and Tyson Foods Inc., making him one of Law360's four rising stars under 40 in consumer protection and privacy law.

  • April 3, 2012

    Users Want EU To Probe Facebook's Missed Audit Promises

    A European consumer rights group on Tuesday criticized the Irish data protection regulator for failing to penalize Facebook Inc. for failing to meet the agency's deadline for improving its privacy policies, and urged users to take their complaints to the European Commission.

  • April 3, 2012

    Feds Allege Discriminatory Lending In GFI Mortgage Suit

    GFI Mortgage Bankers Inc. charged African-American and Hispanic borrowers thousands of dollars in extra fees that were unrelated to their credit risk, the U.S. attorney in Manhattan alleged in an anti-discrimination lawsuit filed Monday.

  • April 3, 2012

    Judge Won't Ice Consumer Protection Claims In Hot Fuel MDL

    A Kansas federal judge ruled Monday that a jury can hear a class action alleging energy companies and gas stations violated the Kansas Consumer Protection Act by not disclosing that fuel sold at higher temperatures has less energy per gallon.

  • April 3, 2012

    Sears Says Bayer Ruling Has No Bearing On Dryer Ad Case

    Last year's U.S. Supreme Court ruling in a product liability suit against Bayer Corp. doesn't apply to a case alleging Sears Roebuck & Co. deceptively marketed faulty dryers, the retailer told the Seventh Circuit on Tuesday, seeking to preserve an injunction barring similar class actions against it.