In hiQ Labs, Inc. v. LinkedIn Corporation, the U.S. Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals issued an especially notable decision with respect to the scraping of publicly-available data from the Internet for data analytics. While upholding a preliminary injunction prohibiting LinkedIn from cutting off access to hiQ, the court also held that hiQ’s scraping of such data did not constitute a violation of the federal Computer Fraud & Abuse Act (CFAA). This decision doesn’t completely clear the way for scraping of data from websites without the authorization of the website owner, but it is certainly helpful precedent for data analytics providers.

The marketing research and data analytics industry already has a helpful example of the costs of an overly broad data privacy law in the money spent attempting to comply with Europe’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). A new study tries to quantify the cost of a comprehensive U.S. privacy law modeled on GDPR and the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA), the new law coming into effect in the Golden State on January 1, 2020.

While the Insights Association offers extensive compliance information for the European Union (EU) General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) in our members-only 

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is publicly reviewing its rules for the Children’s On

Half of ad spending used to be presumed to be wasted and it was impossible to tell which half, but advanced data utilization changed that reality.

The ranking member of the House Energy & Commerce Committee discusses federal privacy regulation in response to GDPR

Top trade organizations, working with privacy policy advisors, have launched the new “Privacy for America” coalition, which will work with Congress to support enactment of groundbreaking comprehensive federal consumer data privacy and security legislation. The Insights Association is a founding member of the coalition.

The European Commission recently delivered a passing grade for the U.S.-EU Privacy Shield, the agreement allowing for trans-Atlantic data transfer, in their second annual review, despite urging from the European Parliament this past summer to abrogate the deal.

In the run-up to a Federal Trade Commission (FTC) hearing on data privacy, a coalition of data-driven industry groups urged the FTC to adopt a new privacy paradigm focused on "reasonableness" that would be "best suited to create lasting protections for consumers and foster a competitive and innovative marketplace." The proposed privacy approach would prohibit "unreasonable data practices that are harmful to consumers" while providing a comprehensible regulatory standard with "a set of factors a company can use to evaluate its data practices that is tailored to its circumstances and consumer relationships."  It would also preempt the growing patchwork of state privacy laws.

A new Congress means some new faces have taken charge of the marketing research and data analytics industry's policy interests in the Senate.